A hazardous chemical accident takes place almost every day in the U.S. The worst in recent history occurred on Feb. 3, 2023, in East Palestine, a small Ohio town on the Pennsylvania border. Photographer Rebecca Kiger spent a year documenting its uncertain aftermath.
By Alejandro de la Garza
TRAINS BUILT EAST PALES-tine. Through the 19th and 20th centuries, the Ohio town grew up around the freight-rail tracks that carried goods, fuel, and chemicals between the industrial centers of the Midwest. But when that industrial system declined, East Palestine’s community didn’t fall apart. Young people stayed, had children, and sent them to local schools. New residents moved in and started small businesses. It wasn’t paradise, but it was quiet and safe, the type of place where you knew your neighbors. For many of the population of 4,700, it was enough to fulfill the town motto: “The place you want to be.”
Then, on a cold February night a year ago, 38 train cars derailed and burst into flames. Firefighters fought the blaze for hours before the local fire chief pulled them back because of concerns for their safety. Some of the tankers contained hazardous cargo such as butyl acrylate, a fluid used to make polymers. Many residents in town were evacuated. Believing that five tanker cars of vinyl chloride, which causes cancer in humans, were likely to explode, emergency-response contractors and local officials decided to burn off their contents. After the accident, the railroad company (Atlanta-based Norfolk Southern) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) assured residents that the town was safe. But in the weeks and months that followed, many residents of East Palestine fell ill.
Early blunders sowed doubt in the response. News reports criticized the EPA for dragging its feet on testing for dioxins, a class of extremely toxic substances that can be generated from burning vinyl chloride; the agency says it took time to get that testing up and running, and it wasn’t expecting to find much anyway. A year later, many of the most important questions still lack good answers. Some independent researchers say the EPA hasn’t looked hard enough for chemicals that may have infiltrated people’s homes. Many worry about the lack of scientific understanding of how mixtures of chemicals like those released by the Norfolk Southern train might affect the human body. The agency says that it doesn’t think there’s a route for
