Posted on 03/17/2023 12:24:09 PM PDT by Red Badger
Newly released data shows soil in the Ohio town of East Palestine – scene of a recent catastrophic train crash and chemical spill – contains dioxin levels hundreds of times greater than the exposure threshold above which Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) scientists in 2010 found poses cancer risks.
The EPA at the time proposed lowering the cleanup threshold to reflect the science around the highly toxic chemical, but the Obama administration killed the rules, and the higher federal action threshold remains in place.
Though the dioxin levels in East Palestine are below the federal action threshold and an EPA administrator last week told Congress the levels were “very low”, chemical experts, including former EPA officials, who reviewed the data for the Guardian called them “concerning”.
The levels found in two soil samples are also up to 14 times higher than dioxin soil limits in some states, and the numbers point to wider contamination, said Linda Birnbaum, a former head of the US National Toxicology Program and EPA scientist.
“The levels are not screaming high, but we have confirmed that dioxins are in East Palestine’s soil,” she said. “The EPA must test the soil in the area more broadly.”
The data probably confirms fears that the controlled burn of vinyl chloride in the days after the train wreck in the town created dioxin and dispersed it throughout the area, experts say, though they stressed the new data is of limited value because only two soil samples were checked.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
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They’re white - and don’t have money for Political donations - so No One Cares.
Bottom line
The Pentagon and Jennifer Griffin and her NPR husband hope they die without any coverage, that’s the goal.
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They finally tested? /s
Who’s surprised at the results?
Not here.
FWIW this isn’t what the local farmer’s newspaper is reporting. Just got my copy yesterday. They are saying that the dioxin testing still hasn’t been even done. They also report about how much pressure Ohio’s two Senators have had to apply to get the EPA to do the tests at all. Samples were finally taken early this week, and results are expected in about ten days. The nearby farmers being the most affected by this disaster, and the paper’s reputation resting on being truthful, I’m inclined to believe them over the Guardian.
(shocked) /s
Thx
“A truth that’s told with bad intent, Beats all the lies you can invent.”
William Blake
Truth is one part of it.
Motivation is another.
Cui bono...?
It doesn't come close. The EPA consistently overrates these threats to legitimize their power.
This article is a terrific example of click bait masquerading as science. Anonymous sources expressing their grave concern. Extrapolating dire conditions based on questionable samples with no apparent chain of custody or documentation of the sampling detail. In other words, useless in drawing any conclusions or of remediation utility. Scientific and engineering clickbait.
I have the impression that many people see evil motives in others because they are not seeing instant gratification on restoring to an idealistic, pristine state of of the wreck site or the environment writ large. I'll rip the band-aid off that illusion.
Draw a circle around the wreck site. This area will be in remediation for years. In the first hours and days, responders were throwing up barriers, collecting surface water runoff and removing gross amounts of contaminated soil. All this would be hauled off to hazardous waste disposal, probably specialized incineration systems.
The next steps will likely consist of putting in engineered barriers to prohibit off site migration of contaminants. My guess is a soil cap on top of the site. Slurry walls will contain subsurface water movement and wells will pump out contaminated water to hazardous material disposal.
Now comes the long slog. Detailed profiling of the contamination. Determine options for cleanup then implement.
This ain't gonna happen in a week or two.
I'll stop now. If anyone wants to talk technology stuff, I'm game for it. If anyone wants to quote mindless slogans not grounded in reality, I’ve got no time.
Do we have reliable pre-crash dioxin level test results?
Well, Dioxins and similar compounds are prevalent in the environment; but usually not naturally occurring. “Mostly Deadly” is sort of meaningless without context. I would say the accumulated risk of long term exposure of minute quantities via use of industrial products of all sorts is the concern. It’s not like someone is going to jump into a vat of known carcinogens.
But but but, c’mon man, it’s safe, honest, no joke.
Weren’t the “first responders” responsible for the decision to pour it on the ground and burn it?
The idiot fedguv created this American Chernobyl, right here in Ohio and PA, thru their monumental stupidity, or was it deliberate? This kind of shit is happening beyond what can be considered “mistakes”. Some people need hanging, with real nooses.
The comment seems rather hyperbolic.
Where are the dead people?
Other than dead fish, which are expected if you spill many chemicals in high concentration into water, where is the evidence?
All I read are anecdotal accounts without check-able proof.
Officials estimated 38,222 minnows and around 5,550 other species – such as other fish, crayfish and amphibians – were killed during the derailment. The deaths occurred in a five-mile span within the impact area.
I am amazed they did not mention the many millions of mosquitoes killed!
That's a very poorly worded statement. I assume it was supposed to be:
"Officials estimated 38,222 minnows and around 5,550 animals of other species – such as other fish, crayfish and amphibians – were killed during the derailment."
Good post. My Dad participated for quite a few years in research and trial projects restoring strip mined land where lots of nasties were distributed all over the place, including at varying depths, sometimes aquifers were ontaminated with said nasties, etc. Pretty interesting stuff, even if I was only catching “pieces” of info from him now and then.
One location (with some add-ons) is now a 20,000 acre state park with over 30 fishable (and most stocked) ponds and lakes on it.
That’s not exactly the same thing as this situation, but, it gives me a good sense of the correctness of your post. :-)
And now, 400,000 gallons of radioactive tainted water leak from Nuclear plant in Monticello, MN
The whole system is coming down.
I I have a strong disbelief of the “pour it on the ground and burn it” mmm theory. Strong scent of BS is detected.
Re. strip mines, this was my first exposure to truly huge scale equipment. My very first assignment out of college though was to supervise a work crew working in an in-plant junk yard to modify an old tank to a new duty within a large pilot plant. “Supervised” a work crew that didn't speak English. Hotter ‘n hell summer on the Texas gulf coast. Got my fork lift stuck in the mud. The real purpose in throwing me into that hell was to drive the notion out of me that working in an idealized air conditioned office was formally out the window.
Second professional exposure touched on strip mining and was a few months later when I was assigned to tag along with a research chemist running a project at a power plant in the lignite fields located in NE Texas. Several of these power plants were active in the lignite fields. Basically, a power plant with a 20-30 year service life was plunked down in the middle of a lignite field. The field surrounding the plant was strip mined then when the lignite was exhausted, the power plant was decommissioned and demolished.
Terraforming to restore the land began soon after the active mining was sufficiently distant from an area. Top soil is a precious material and had been scalped off and securely protected. Other under soils were also piled. The soils were layered back in.
This land in native form had been fairly rugged cattle ranching lands. Little if any farming because of the climate. In the terraforming, the land was contoured into smooth hills much like nature created in the Dakotas wheat and cattle country. Water drainage for the seasonal drainage provided for. Native grasses planted and flourished. End result was happy cows and greatly improved land productivity.
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