Ohio, just south of Lake Erie and approximately 400 kilometres (250 miles) from the Canada-U.S. border, played host to a nightmarish scenario earlier this month when a train crashed and exploded, spewing toxic chemicals into the environment.Residents who returned to the town of East Palestine after evacuation orders were lifted reported strange odours and dead animals, leaving some locals questioning if it truly is safe to return home.
The Environmental Protection Agency maintains that the air and water around the crash site is safe.Fingers are being pointed at Norfolk Southern, the operator of the train, for helping lobby against railroad safety regulations that could have mitigated the impacts of the crash.
A new lawsuit aims to get the company to pay for medical examinations for locals in case there are long-term health impacts associated with the leaked chemicals.On Feb.
3, a train carrying vinyl chloride and nine other hazardous chemicals flew off the rails and started a massive fire just outside East Palestine, a small town of about 5,000.