On February 3, in East Palestine, Ohio, a Norfolk Southern freight train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed. Toxic fumes were released into the air and the soil was contaminated. Residents have reported that they have experienced headaches, rashes, nausea, and trouble breathing in the aftermath, according to CNN.
The train derailment also affected the local biodiversity, as the Ohio Department of Natural Resources estimated that the release of these chemicals caused the death of 3,500 fish, but there are no signs of harm to other types of animals according to NPR.
Several of the derailed cars were carrying vinyl chloride, a man made substance that is a key ingredient in PVC—the hard plastic resin used widely in construction and health care. If inhaled, vinyl chloride can cause respiratory symptoms like shortness of breath, as well as neurological symptoms like headaches and dizziness. According to the CDC, chronic exposure to high levels of vinyl chloride has been associated with liver damage and cancer.
The other hazardous chemicals on the train include ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, ethylhexyl acrylate and isobutylene, which can all cause irritation or neurological symptoms. Another car lost an entire load of butyl acrylate, a clear liquid used to make paint, adhesives, and caulk. Exposure to butyl acrylate can cause similar reactions, as the other chemicals as reported by NPR.
In addition to monitoring the air quality, the EPA has screened indoor air in nearly 500 homes; the agency said they didn’t identify any detections of vinyl chloride or hydrogen chloride. Samples of the water were taken last week, and they show “very low levels” of the two contaminants, butyl acrylate and ethyl hexyl acrylate. Officials also said, according to NPR, there was no detection of vinyl chloride in the waterways, concluding that the water is safe to drink.
However the people of East Palestine still feel unsafe, so the town held a meeting at a local high school, pressing state and local officials for answers about air and water testing, and the risks of long-term exposure. The townsfolk want to know why people are still getting sick if there’s nothing in the air or water.
The Guardian reported that following the events in East Palestine, the tragedy has been turned into a racial issue by right-wing outlets and commentators. Fox News star Tucker Carlson said, “East Palestine is overwhelmingly white, and it’s politically conservative. That shouldn’t be relevant, but it very much is.”
Carlson described East Palestine as a “poor benighted town whose people are forgotten, and in the view of the people who lead this country, forgettable.” He emphasized the suffering of local residents who were forced to evacuate and since they’ve had to return home, they remain fearful about the air and water quality.
He then contrasted their hardships with what he called the “favored poor” who live in “favored cities” such as Detroit and Philadelphia, alluding to urban centers that are often led by Democratic mayors with large Black populations. Carlson said in these “favored” places, “everyone feels for them and everyone wants them to be safe.”
Even former President Donald Trump chimed in. He rode into the town and gave out water bottles, promising that he’d ensure justice for the people of East Palestine.“You are not forgotten,” he said. East Palestine is majority white, and the latest census data puts it at 98% white and 0.2% African American. The community isn’t as “poor” as Carlson describes them, they’re not wealthy but the residents living below the poverty line form a smaller proportion than the national rate.
According to Evlondo Cooper, a senior researcher on climate and energy with the watchdog group Media Matters for America, “Poor whites do have legitimate environmental justice claims. But when Carlson and others suggest that this is a unique grievance, they are ignoring that this stuff happens to poor black and brown and indigenous communities every day.” Carlson refers to Detroit; one of the blackest cities in the US as a “favored city.” However the city continues to contend with toxic air, lead poisoning and tap water that is laden with contaminants that can cause cancer, brain impairments, and other serious health threats.
The argument that poor white communities are “forgotten” compared to the attention black inner-city areas get from the media is misleading. Last August the 79% black city of Jackson, Mississippi experienced a drinking water crisis that had lasted years yet it was largely ignored by the media as a whole.
Republicans have leaned on this race-baiting in an attempt to smooth over the gap between white, working-class Americans and the super rich. However, under Trump’s presidency, he overturned new safety rules introduced under former President Barack Obama that required more sophisticated brakes on trains carrying flammable materials. Under Trump, changes were made to weaken routine rail safety audits following accidents and throwing away minimum staffing levels on freight trains. These changes were made under the pressure of the private rail industry devoting $25 million to lobbying in 2022. According to Open Secrets, this included $1.8 million from Norfolk Southern, the company that owned the derailed train.
The right’s effort to cause further tension between races, distracts attention from the lack of public safety controls. This fact leaves millions of Americans, regardless of race or ethnicity, vulnerable to disasters like what occurred in East Palestine. It’s estimated that 25 million Americans live within one mile of rail lines that carry toxic crude oil and the amount of households within blast distance of toxic chemical lines is much larger.
Michael McIntyre, an oil refinery worker who was the former president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in Steubenville, a small city to the south of the derailment, said, “This should not be a race issue, it’s a health issue. East Palestine is not getting what it needs, not because its people are white, it’s because they are poor, and Trump never cared about them.”
