Earlier this month, 38 cars of a Norfolk Southern freight train derailed from a track in East Palestine, Ohio and ignited. Eleven of the cars that were impacted by the derailment and subsequent fire were carrying hazardous materials, which leaked into the watershed. On Feb. 23, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources released data about the impact of the train derailment and resulting chemical spill on aquatic life in nearby waterways.<\/p>\n Officials from Ohio DNR, Ohio EPA, and the private environmental consulting firm EnviroScience counted<\/a> 2,938 species of minnows, small fish, crayfish, amphibians, and macroinvertebrates that died from the disaster. None of the affected species are thought to be threatened or endangered. Researchers took the sample from four collection sites<\/a> on a 5-mile stretch of Bull Creek. Of those nearly 3,000 species, 2,200 of them were minnows under three inches long. Using an industry-standard calculation to estimate the death tally in that stretch, ODNR announced that 38,222 minnows and 5,500 other aquatic critters died in the wake of the train derailment.<\/p>\n This fatality event might not look like other high-profile fish kills<\/a>, where big-bodied trout and bass float belly-up in contaminated water. But according to Ohio Backcountry Hunters and Anglers board member Dustin Lindley, he suspects the effects could potentially work their way up the food chain.<\/p>\n \u201cThe long term impacts still remain to be seen. The health of those streams is absolutely affected by those lower-level species,\u201d Lindley tells Outdoor Life<\/em>. \u201cIt\u2019s also very difficult to estimate the true number of insects killed. And we don\u2019t know how long those streams will be impacted, so that\u2019s an ongoing question. We can\u2019t undo what\u2019s been done, so our focus is on making sure that adequate testing is underway so we know the scope of the problem, and obviously the ongoing clean-up effort is a big concern as well.\u201d <\/p>\n ODNR reports that the dead fish and other aquatic life are the result of the initial impact of the spill and that the chemicals have since been contained<\/a>. The agency also says that \u201cthere is no immediate threat to minnows, fish, or other aquatic species.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s important to stress that these small fish are all believed to have been killed immediately after the derailment,\u201d ODNR director Mary Mertz said in a statement. \u201cBecause the chemicals were contained, ODNR has not seen any additional signs of aquatic life suffering in the streams. In fact, we have seen live fish return to Leslie Run.\u201d<\/p>\n But locals who have taken to the water themselves say otherwise. Facebook user and reptile enthusiast Jonathan Hoeflich posted photos and videos to his profile after investigating the scene. In his post<\/a> from Feb. 19, he reported \u201cmelted rotting fungus covered fish, salamanders that looked like someone burned them with cigarettes, and frogs that died attempting to vomit up their own stomachs\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n When these specimens died is unknown, but other recent videos allegedly showing contaminated water in Leslie Run are still surfacing.<\/p>\n Of the 11 cars<\/a> that carried hazardous materials, six contained flammable gas, three contained flammable liquid, and two contained combustible liquid. (\u201cFlammable\u201d materials ignite at lower temperatures than \u201ccombustible\u201d materials.) Among the materials involved in the spill was ethylene glycol monobutyl ether<\/a>, which can cause serious or permanent injury, according to NOAA. <\/p>\n Vinyl chloride is also causing major concerns. Two days after the derailment, authorities noticed that the temperature inside one of five derailed cars carrying over 115,000 gallons of vinyl chloride was rising. <\/p>\n \u201cThis increase in temperature suggested that the vinyl chloride was undergoing a polymerization reaction, which could pose an explosion hazard,\u201d a National Transportation Safety Board report<\/a> says. \u201cResponders scheduled a controlled venting of the five vinyl chloride tank cars to release and burn the vinyl chloride, expanded the evacuation zone to a 1-mile by 2-mile area, and dug ditches to contain released vinyl chloride liquid while it vaporized and burned. The controlled venting began about 4:40 p.m. on February 6 and continued for several hours.\u201d<\/p>\n Vinyl chloride is a widely-produced compound and a key ingredient in polyvinyl chloride, or PVC. It\u2019s also one of the combustion products of tobacco smoke, and long-term exposure can cause cancer<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cThe substance may have effects on the liver, spleen, blood, peripheral blood vessels and tissue and bones of the fingers,\u201d a WHO factsheet<\/a> on vinyl chloride reads. \u201cAnimal tests show that this substance possibly causes toxicity to human reproduction or development. This substance is carcinogenic to humans.\u201d<\/p>\nLittle Fish, Big Problem<\/h2>\n
![\"salamander](\"https:\/\/www.outdoorlife.com\/uploads\/2023\/02\/24\/ohio_train_derailment_fish_kill_salamandar.jpeg\")
What This Means for Humans<\/h2>\n