Authors: Brian Oram, Licensed Professional Geologist and Amy Lee, Environmental Consultant

So, what is the role of the Water Professional during tragic events like the East Palestine train derailment?

The train derailment on February 3, 2023 in East Palestine, Ohio is another example of a combination of conditions and problems that are plaguing the United States of America. During the early stages after the accident, the main objective is to understand the what, how, why, and current conditions as well as to determine how to first minimize the risk and further damage to life, the environment, and property. With the exception of the first responders and clean-up professionals, (i.e., the experts in responding to clean-up events that require health and safety and OSHA trained Hazwoper - Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response) professionals, my recommendation is to follow this process:

1. Listen to emergency personnel

2. Work to “Get the Facts”

3. Always “Be a Professional” when assessing

4. “Tread Lightly” when responding or commenting

In preparation for this article and working to “Get the Facts”, I read about 30 different published articles and reviewed government reports that all seemed to contain slightly different versions of the facts. Facts are elements that are corroborated across multiple relevant and reputable sources that are void of emotional terms or interpretations. It is important to identify the factual elements of the story before drawing conclusions or making public statements in any professional capacity.

From these articles, these are the facts I was able to compil¹:

• On Feb. 3, just before 9 p.m. ET, a Norfolk Southern train derailed near East Palestine, Ohio.
  
  
• The train was traveling at about 47 mph and the maximum permissible speed is 50 miles per hour.
  
  
• The train was pulling 150 rail cars and about 20 of the cars were listed in the manifest as carrying hazardous materials. A total of thirty-eight cars derailed and eleven of these cars carried hazardous chemicals with five of these cars containing vinyl chloride (a flammable poison). The other chemicals present in the train cars included ethylene glycol, monobutyl ether, ethylhexyl acrylate, butyl acrylate, benzene, and isobutylene.
  
  
• The initial cause for the derailment was suspected to be a faulty wheel bearing on one rail car. There are three hot-box detectors along a 30-mile section near East Palestine. As the train passed the detectors, the wheel bearing temperature read 38° Fahrenheit, 103° Fahrenheit, and the final sensor read 253° Fahrenheit above ambient temperature.²
  
  Note: Norfolk Southern safety guidelines do not require train operators to take action until wheel bearings reach 170° Fahrenheit above ambient temperature, but when a temperature of 200° Fahrenheit is reached, the operational procedure includes stopping the train immediately and removing the rail car(s) of concern.^3,5
  
• The environmental response team decided to complete a controlled explosion as a way to reduce the environmental and health risks related to vinyl chloride. On Feb. 6th, 115,580 gallons of vinyl chloride were diverted to a trench for a controlled explosion which caused a fire that burned for 2 days. The fire caused the airborne release of a massive plume of black smoke that likely included:
  
  a. char
  b. solid residue
  c. hydrogen chloride
  d. other gasses including some phosgene gas
  
• The hydrogen chloride that was released would likely chemically react in Earth’s atmosphere to create hydrochloric acid. The other gasses produced during this controlled explosion were carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and phosgene gas. Phosgene gas (carbonyl chloride) is a highly toxic, colorless gas with a musty odor. For perspective – phosgene was responsible for 85% of chemical weapons deaths in World War I. ^4,7
  
  Note: The presence of a gas is not the only factor that determines risk. For example, the individual Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Permissible Exposure Limits (PELS) reportedly safe level of exposure for hydrogen chloride is less than 5 ppm in air and phosgene gas is less than 0.1 ppm in air over an eight-hour exposure period.^8,9
  
  PPM - “Parts of vapor or gas per million parts of contaminated air by volume at 25 °C and 760 torr (1 atmosphere) over a given time interval for that specific gas and not a mixture of gasses or other factors.”

When looking at exposure and health risks, it is important to know the concentration, exposure period, air pressure, other gasses present, and temperature. In addition, there are the toxicologic health risks to individuals for each released hazard risk and other individual person risk factors that may play a role in the acute or chronic health response. For example: the age of the individual, other exposure routes, genetic vulnerabilities, and other environmental or mitigating circumstances are factors that impart risk to a particular individual but not necessarily every individual person in a hazard release area. This is a lot of work for the Environmental Health and Safety Professionals as well as Toxicologic and Medical Professionals, so stay in your lane. ⁶

Looking back at the event history, the health and safety professionals will be asking questions like: “Was this “controlled detonation” really wise?” and “Was the public adequately informed that one severe risk was being replaced with a potentially other or additional risk factor?” In addition, there are a lot of other unanswered questions about the health and safety of humans and the environment like: “are the reported health concerns of the citizens related to the accidental release and is the response to the environmental conditions related to the controlled explosion or something else or both?” This is why the Environmental Health and Safety Professionals will be working with lawyers, toxicologists, medical professionals, first responders, and others with relevant expertise in a team-based approach to decision-making for the greater good of those in the area(s) impacted.

From the symptoms, it looks like the emergency solution, although meant to mitigate overall risks of the accident in its entirety, may be contributing significantly and detrimentally to the health of the citizens, but this is not a fact - it is a hypothesis. Yes, Water and Environmental Health and Safety Professionals are scientists and we must use the proper term ‘hypothesis’ when we are applying our professional knowledge to draw conclusions for which we have not scientifically tested.

As a professional, it is important to state the facts and what we know and do not know and we must provide the public with a fact-based response and information. From a water treatment or air exposure standard, we must remember that most of the point-of-use water treatment systems and even air purification systems are sized and tested assuming that the water and air meets some safe standard and their primary role is to “polish” the environment not “purify” the environment. This was why my company’s response to this event was to publish an “educational” based article that led the public to the facts and information and not to any misinformation or fear-mongering outlets. We, as a company of professionals, are happy to work with and provide technical assistance to any citizen, local grassroots organization, or local government agency. This is my approach to the “Tread Lightly” portion of the process. There is a lot we do not know! And, it is okay to acknowledge that as well.

After reading another 10 articles and watching videos (See video critical thinking review below) of individuals causing oil sheens to be displaced from stream sediments, individuals sampling a stream inappropriately by mixing up the settled sediment and wearing inefficient personal protective equipment for the response level, then claiming the samples are valid because they are using a certified laboratory to complete the analysis - it is clear that the public does need the Unbiased Water Professional to be involved in order to identify these deficiencies in test and sampling protocols that can result in misinformation and biased study results regardless of the qualifications of the laboratory completing the analysis.

It is my opinion that this and other cases related to the industrial release and accidents of this nature clearly show that we have a problem in the USA.

• Historical land-use and urban development plans that are not consistent with the nature and extent of hazard exposures and risks with current industrialization and a modern society. This creates a combination of sub-problems including:
  
  
• We have urbanization that has encroached on historically industrial-use-only sites putting people and homes much closer to industrial locations where risks are present, and
  
  
• We have old historical industrial sites, that were built along stream corridors, that put today’s downstream users at a greater risk in cases of a release. These risks were not there when these industrial sites were planned and built and we have not implemented a plan in the USA to relocate or shore-up these facilities appropriately to the level of current acceptable modern industrial-use risks.
  
  
• Industry and government agency responses seem to only be reactive and not proactive in planning to benefit society, and there is a lot of political finger-pointing along ideological lines. What seems clear is that action is needed to improve our transportation monitoring systems and we must become more proactive and invest in our infrastructure. For example, the derailment accident begs us to question things like: Why does a country like Lithuania have a better rail system than the USA? Why is the maximum speed limit not associated with the temperature of the bearings? and Why Only 3 sensors? How many sensors are truly sufficient along a rail line to mitigate risks? Who is responsible for identifying population density risks when new development proposals are suggested? What is the level of risk? etc.
  
  
• The lay public is very distrustful of industry, government agencies, and in some cases professionals, but in many respects too comfortable with the advocates (i.e., groups or agencies that have a larger agenda); ideological views are getting more attention than facts or information.¹⁰
  
  

My suggestion to the water professionals and our industry of environmental professionals who approach a crisis from a scientific basis is as follows: Get the Facts: learn the who, what, where, when, why, and how of the situation, and “Tread Lightly” but not quietly. Meaning – word choice matters, stating facts matters, and knowing when to say ‘I don’t know’, or not to speak at all matters towards the greater-good of the profession as a whole. We as Water Professionals can play a significant role informing the public, providing guidance and information related to necessary updates to local and state land-development regulations and infrastructure needs, educating journalists, and helping industry and business both monitor and protect the public and the environment. We also have a duty to care for the people in the situation and to protect their livelihoods in the environment. The professional must be balanced, level-headed, and always operate with integrity.

Other Blog Posts for Water Professionals or on East Palestine (add appropriate links)

Sources

1. What to know about the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio

2. Here's the most thorough explanation yet for the train derailment in East Palestine

3. NTSB Preliminary Report: What happened before train derailment?

4. A Brief History of Chemical War

5. The Ohio toxic train wreck was ‘100% preventable’ – but there’s no evidence the crew did anything wrong, investigators say

6. Biden DOJ Sues Norfolk Southern for 'Unlawfully Polluting the Nation's Waterways'

7. Fire Properties of Polyvinyl Chloride

8. Medical Management Guidelines for Vinyl Chloride

9. Department of Labor - Permissible Exposure Limits – Annotated Tables

10. Despite government response, East Palestine residents feel forgotten

If you need help, please Contact Us. We can help educate professionals, assist with community outreach, and assist with public education. If you have a good story or case study, please send it to us so we can post it as a lesson learned for other professionals and the public.

Authors

Brian Oram is the founder of KnowYourH2O.com and oversees its ongoing development. Mr. Oram is a licensed professional geologist, certified professional soil scientist, licensed well driller, and certified sewage enforcement officer. His services include conducting certified baseline water quality testing, and training water samplers in proper sampling and chain of custody practices. He is the owner of B.F. Environmental Consultants, and a proud member of the Water Quality Association.

Amy Lee is a ceramic arts enthusiast who does Environmental and IT consulting (in that order). She also thinks SAP, ESRI, and Salesforce have the potential to change the face of IT in business operations. She is the newest member of the KnowYourH2O Team and is responsible for our upgraded Surface Water Quality Index Calculator.