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Pets and wildlife — including an estimated 3,500 fish — are dying in the wake of the toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, according to reports, as residents become more worried the spill could have long-term effects on their health.
A train carrying 20 cars containing hazardous chemicals derailed on Feb. 3 with 10 of the cars toppling over, spilling noxious chemicals into the air and water supply. Five of the cars were carrying toxic vinyl chloride, which was subsequently burned to prevent an explosion.
“We basically nuked a town with chemicals so we could get a railroad open,” hazardous materials specialist Sil Caggiano told local outlet WKBN, adding some of the other hazardous materials spilled in the train crash are dangerous to humans.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources has estimated 3,500 fish died across 7.5 miles of streams in the first five days after the burn.
Local fox and chicken keepers have also reported their animals becoming sluggish, losing feathers and dying — some miles away from the crash site.
Ohio Humane Society officials are being flooded with sick animal calls.
“My phone is just going all day,” Columbiana County Humane Society Executive Director Teresa McGuire told the Herald-Star.
These families have already been through enough,” McGuire told the outlet. “We’re in a scrappy, blue-collar community. Some people already had to pay for food and hotels while they were displaced.
