COLUMBUS — UPDATE: 3:30 p.m.
DeWine said he was told that the train that derailed in East Palestine was not considered as a “high hazardous material train,” therefore no one was required to notify the state about what was in the rail cars.
“Frankly, if this is true, and I’m told it’s true, this is absurd,” DeWine said. “Congress needs to take a take a look at how these things are handled. We should know when we have trains carrying hazardous materials going through the state of Ohio,” he said.
INITIAL REPORT:
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine is expected to provide a update on the train derailment in East Palestine Tuesday afternoon.
DeWine will be joined by Cabinet officials to give a third update on the situation at 3 p.m.
>> PHOTOS: Train derailment in eastern Ohio causes huge fire
The Norfolk Southern train of nearly 50 cars derailed Feb. 3 and caused a days-long fire in the area. Some of the cars contained hazardous chemicals, including vinyl chloride.
The derailment and fire led hundreds of people to temporarily leave their homes.
To prevent a possible explosion, the railroad conducted a controlled release of the chemicals, which resulted in toxic chemicals and potentially deadly fumes being released into the air.
A hazardous materials specialist said it is possible some of these chemicals could be in homes and on objects around the city.
“We basically nuked a town with chemicals so we could get a railroad open. I was surprised when they quickly told people they can go back home, but then said if they want their home’s tested they can have them tested. I would’ve far rather they did all the testing,” Silvero Caggiano, Administrative Deputy Chief at Mahoning County Hazardous Materials Response Agency said.
>> ‘Why did this happen;’ Both Ohio Senators issue statements following NE Ohio train derailment
Water testing was going to continue later this week, according to the East Palestine Water and Wastewater Department.
We’ll update this story as we learn more from DeWine this afternoon.
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