Dead fish, chemical smells and headaches: The fallout from Ohio’s toxic train disaster

Almost two weeks after a freight train carrying hazardous materials was derailed in Ohio, USA, residents are reticent about returning home.

The catastrophe, which occurred on 3 February near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border, sparked a massive fire.

Those living in the vicinity were evacuated and schools in the area were closed as fears of an explosion grew. A controlled burn was carried out to prevent this, releasing a cloud of toxic fumes.

Although residents have now been told they can return home safely, concerns remain over possible drinking water contamination, long term impacts, and reports of dead animals.

The train, operated by Norfolk Southern Railroad, was travelling from Illinois to Pennsylvania. At around 9pm on 3 February, it is thought to have derailed due to a mechanical problem with a wheel bearing caused by overheating. No one was injured in the incident.

Of the train’s 150 freight cars, 20 were carrying hazardous materials. Around 50 cars were involved in the accident, including 10 of those carrying toxic materials.

If left to explode, these materials would have caused a “deadly dispersion of shrapnel and toxic fumes”, Ohio governor Mike Dewine said in a news briefing on 6 February.

“We had to weigh different risks with no great choices,” he continued before announcing that a controlled burn of the toxic chemicals would be carried out to prevent a more dangerous explosion.

The disaster happened in East Palestine, Ohio, a town of around 4,700 people about 80 km northwest of Pittsburgh.

Nearly 2,000 residents living within a one-by-two mile (1.6 by 3.2 km) radius were told they were in “imminent danger” and were ordered to leave immediately. But one resident told Reuters news agency their home already smelled like