The agency’s new office in the eastern Ohio community will assess long-term health issues stemming from the disaster.
Three years have passed since a Norfolk Southern freight train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed in East Palestine, an eastern Ohio village near the Pennsylvania border.
On Feb. 3, the disaster’s third anniversary, The National Institutes of Health (NIH) held a grand opening ceremony for the East Palestine Train Derailment Health Research Program Office.
The office will serve as the home to a five-year, $10 million research initiative to assess and address the long-term health outcomes stemming from the derailment.
“NIH’s research hub offers the people of East Palestine a pathway to clear answers about their health they deserve,” said Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“Everyone affected by this environmental disaster deserves access to independent, gold-standard science that puts their well-being first.”
Life in East Palestine abruptly changed around 9 p.m. on Feb. 3, 2023.
The crew of a Norfolk Southern Railway freight train carrying 151 cars saw smoke and fire, and realized that 38 cars had derailed.
The flammable, toxic chemicals in 11 derailed cars had ignited, with flames spreading to an additional 12 cars.
According to the National Transportation Safety Board, nine cars were carrying hazardous materials in addition to the 11 that derailed.
The hazardous chemicals, including vinyl chloride in some of the rail cars, began to spill onto the ground and into the air.
Vinyl chloride is used to make PVC pipes and other products.
The National Cancer Institute notes that the toxic chemical has been linked to cancers of the brain, lungs, blood, lymphatic system, and liver.
Vinyl chloride creates carbon monoxide and hydrogen chloride when it burns.
When the latter mixes with water, it generates hydrochloric acid, a corrosive substance that can burn the skin and eyes, and is toxic if inhaled.
Burning vinyl chloride also produces a small amount of phosgene gas, which was used as a chemical weapon on World War I battlefields.
As the fire continued, authorities on Feb. 6—fearing shrapnel from a major explosion—decided on a controlled detonation of five cars, which sent a massive cloud of black smoke into the sky.
Visible for miles, it was likened to the mushroom cloud caused by a nuclear weapon.
The government characterized it as a “controlled burn,” but residents said it was anything but controlled.
