Mystery illnesses and dead animals plague Ohio after train derailment

More than 45,000 fish and other aquatic wildlife have died in recent weeks, as residents report respiratory and other ailments

An environmental company removes dead fish downstream from the site of the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. Reuters

Almost a month after a freight train derailed near East Palestine on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border, spilling toxic chemicals and spewing black smoke, local residents are reporting mysterious health problems and tens of thousands of dead fish and animals.

Both residents and workers near the site of the February 3 derailment have reported symptoms including headaches, sore throats, rashes and nausea, with some suffering from respiratory illnesses such as bronchitis.

Howard Yang, general manager of a local manufacturing company, told NBC that up to half of the company's workforce was out sick as of last week.

“People ended up with rashes, nausea, vomiting, bloody nose, eye issues. A lot of coughing, wheezing,” he said.

“We sent a lot of workers to the hospital to get checked out and, sure enough, in most cases, it was a diagnosis of chemical bronchitis. They were put on five different kinds of pills, including steroids. Some guys have to use inhalers. It’s pretty bad.”

The derailment caused a massive fire and led to officials evacuating hundreds of people who lived near the site over fears that a hazardous, highly flammable material might ignite.

To prevent an explosion, toxic vinyl chloride gas was vented and burnt, releasing a cloud of black smoke that hung over the town for several days.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, chemicals of concern at the site include vinyl chloride, butyl acrylate, hydrogen cyanide and phosgene.

The administration of US President Joe Biden has said the concentrations of those and other substances are not high enough to cause concern in the short term.

And the EPA reported earlier this month that monitoring shows the air does not contain hazardous levels of chemicals. Indoor air screenings are available to local residents, it said, and round-the-clock monitoring of the air and water will also continue.

But on Monday, a White House official said Mr Biden had instructed federal agents responding to the train derailment to go door-to-door to conduct health surveys.

Deborah Weese, a nurse practitioner at an urgent care clinic near East Palestine, said she has been seeing about five to 10 patients a day from the area who have symptoms consistent with chemical exposure.

“They’re complaining of burning to their lungs, nasal drainage, eyes burning, throat pain, unknown rashes that have started since they’ve been back to their homes,” she told NBC.

Wade Lovett, a car dealer from East Palestine, appeared in a now-viral video in which he complained that he “sounds like Mickey Mouse”.

“My normal voice is low,” he told The New York Post in a high-pitched voice. “It’s hard to breathe, especially at night. My chest hurts so much at night I feel like I’m drowning. I cough up phlegm a lot. I lost my job because the doctor won’t release me to go to work.”

And it is not only humans who have been affected: Nearly 44,000 animals have died in the area near the crash site.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources estimated that about 38,000 minnows and 5,500 small fish, crayfish, amphibians and other species were killed in an 8km radius of the crash.

None of the species killed are believed to be endangered or threatened.

While there have been other anecdotal reports of dead or sick animals in the area, a new federal class-action lawsuit claims fish and wildlife are dying as far as 30km away from the site of the crash.

“Although mandatory evacuation orders have been lifted and residents have been told that it is safe to return to their homes, plaintiffs and members of their class believe, with good reason, that the prospective dangers from the hazardous exposure are being grossly downplayed and that their health has been and is subjected to injurious toxins,” the lawsuit says.

The Columbiana County Humane Society told Steubenville, Ohio's Herald-Star that it is compiling reports of sick animals as far as 11km outside the evacuation zone.

Officials, however, have yet to confirm any non-aquatic wildlife deaths connected to the train derailment.

Agencies contributed to this report