Authorities plan to release toxic chemicals into the air from five derailed tanker cars that were in danger of exploding on Monday, telling nearby residents to leave immediately or face the possibility of death. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine ordered evacuations in the area of East Palestine, which sits near the Ohio-Pennsylvania state line, of the derailment that has been smouldering since Friday night. Authorities believe most, if not all, residents in the danger zone have left but they were knocking on doors one more time before releasing the vinyl chloride inside the cars, he said.
“You need to leave, you just need to leave. This is a matter of life and death,” DeWine said at press conference ahead of the controlled release planned for 3:30 p.m. EST.
Scott Deutsch of Norfolk Southern Railway said doing this during the daytime will allow the fumes to disperse more quickly and prevent the rail cars from exploding and sending shrapnel and other debris from flying through the neighborhood.
“We can’t control where that goes,” said Deutsch, who estimated the release would take from one to three hours.
The process involves using a small charge to blow a hole in the cars, allowing the material to go into a trench and burning it off before it’s released in the air, he said.
The site is very close to the state line, and the evacuation area extends into a sparsely populated area of Pennsylvania. About half of the 4,800 residents in East Palestine had been warned to leave over the weekend before officials decided on Monday to use the controlled release.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said the evacuation zone includes about 20 Pennsylvania residents, but as of Sunday night, half had remained in their homes. Pennsylvania State Police were going to door-to-door to assist those residents and ensure that they leave.
“This is very serious,” he said. “I want you to know that if I were there right now, if the First Lady and our children were there right now, we would evacuate. We would leave this area. It is potentially too dangerous.”
More to follow
