Toxic liquids from the city of East Palestine in the US state of Ohio, where a train loaded with dangerous chemicals derailed in early February, will continue to flow to a landfill in Texas in the south of the United States.
This was announced Tuesday in the office of Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo.
“The EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) has just informed us that due to heavy rain at the crash site and capacity constraints at other facilities, transportation of firefighting water from East Palestine to Harris County will resume today,” the statement said. L. Hidalgo’s statement.
“The EPA explained to me that the people of East Palestine need this firefighting water to be properly stored and disposed of, and not left unattended outside designated areas,” the judge said. According to her, the rest of the waste and part of the water for firefighting will be delivered to other facilities in the states of Ohio and Indiana.
Earlier, the EPA briefly suspended transportation of waste water from Ohio to Texas as local residents and officials expressed concern.
Residents of the Ohio train crash area and local workers have been diagnosed with bronchitis and other illnesses that doctors suspect are related to chemical exposure, NBC News reported.
In addition to breathing problems, local residents complained of headaches, nausea and rashes, the report said. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, these could be symptoms of chemical exposure.
More than three dozen freight cars, including 11 carrying hazardous materials, derailed near East Palestine on February 4. Rescuers later burned over 430 cubic meters of vinyl chloride from five wagons to avoid an uncontrolled explosion.
Vinyl chloride exposure can lead to an increased risk of liver, brain, and lung cancers, as well as lymphoma and leukemia.