From a window in her house, Tamara Freeze stood and watched a fire spreading along a line of train cars across the street from her house in East Palestine, Ohio. It was a Friday night, February 3, and she鈥檇 just gotten home from work, at the Family Dollar in the middle of town.
鈥淚t was almost like if you pass by a really, really bad accident or like a big tanker that spilled in the middle of the freeway,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 want to watch, but you can鈥檛 help but watch.鈥�
She and her husband, Nelson, were mainly worried about casualties from the derailment鈥搇uckily there were no injuries. They weren鈥檛 thinking about what was in some of those tank cars.
Nelson heard that night they were carrying 鈥榲inyl flooring鈥� 鈥� that didn鈥檛 seem so bad.
鈥淰inyl flooring鈥鈥檝e seen it burn,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat gives off black smoke. But then I heard it was vinyl chloride. And then I said, 鈥極h, no, that is not good.鈥欌��
When they evacuated that weekend, their cat got spooked and hid; they had to leave him in the house.
On Monday, February 6 Norfolk Southern decided to burn the contents of five derailed tankers of vinyl chloride. The company said that would prevent a 鈥榗atastrophic鈥� explosion of the tank cars. It would also prevent the vinyl chloride, a known human carcinogen, from spilling onto the ground.
It may have also created another problem. Burning chemicals with chlorine in them, like vinyl chloride, can create dioxins鈥搕oxic chemicals that can linger in the environment for years.
The EPA there is a 鈥渓ow probability鈥� of this happening, based on its sampling for 鈥渋ndicator chemicals鈥� that it says would signal the presence of dioxins in East Palestine.
Scientists, however, say it鈥檚 likely there was at least some dioxin produced by the fire. Peng Gao, assistant professor of environmental and occupational health at the University of Pittsburgh, said there was a 鈥渉igh chance鈥� dioxins and other harmful toxins were produced in the fire. He said dioxin forms when vinyl chloride undergoes 鈥渋ncomplete combustion鈥� and that it鈥檚 likely some of the chemical wasn鈥檛 entirely combusted in the fire.
鈥淲e highly suspect these chemicals were generated,鈥� Gao said. 鈥淚 definitely do not recommend the residents consume the food produced close to the accident.鈥�
After resisting community pressure to test for dioxins, the EPA though environmental groups to be more transparent with what it finds. The Pennsylvania DEP soil for dioxins in Beaver County, just across the border from East Palestine, this week.
Nelson Freeze says the testing is necessary because he wants to know if staying in his house, which his parents bought in 1971, is going to make his family sick.
鈥淲e need to know because the longer we鈥檙e here without information could potentially be the longer we鈥檙e being exposed to something that is going to hurt us,鈥� he said.
A long-lived chemical
Dioxins are a broad range of chemicals; the EPA says there are . They are widespread in the environment from both industrial and natural sources. They can be formed during combustion, including during waste incineration or when wood, coal, or oil are burned.
And they pose serious health consequences, scientists say.
鈥淒ioxins are famous for being extremely toxic organic chemicals and also bio-accumulative, which means that when you鈥檙e exposed to them, they tend to stick around in your body,鈥� said Carla Ng, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. 鈥淓ven if the levels in the environment are quite low, they can build up over time.鈥�
The reason, Ng says, is that dioxins are incredibly durable, owing to a strong affinity between chlorine and carbon atoms. So they last a long time.
They also prefer fat to water; so they cluster in the fat cells of animals like humans and fish.
鈥淭hings that are water soluble are really easy to get rid of in your body because you can just urinate them out,鈥� Ng said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not the case for these chemicals. And so this means that they can have a lifetime in your body that鈥檚 much longer 鈥� years, as opposed to hours or minutes.鈥�
Nesta Bortey-Sam, assistant professor of environmental and occupational health at the University of Pittsburgh, says the body鈥檚 typical response to breaking down chemicals from the environment doesn鈥檛 really work on dioxins.
鈥淭he general idea for (the body鈥檚) metabolism is to break the compound down to be soluble for excretion,鈥� Bortey-Sam said. With dioxins, 鈥渢his does not always happen and they are able to form other products that have a strong binding affinity with DNA.鈥�
This can lead to serious health problems. According to the EPA, dioxins can cause cancer, damage the immune system, interfere with hormones, and cause reproductive and developmental problems.
Living in a cleanup zone
Tamara Freeze watched the intentionally set vinyl chloride fire on Feb. 6, a few miles away, at her sister鈥檚 house. She alternated between watching the cloud of black smoke in the air, and the TV news feed of the fire. Nelson, an electrician, was several states away in Indiana, on a job for his company. He watched the fire, a few hundred feet from his house, on a computer. 鈥淭o see that plume, it was just astounding to me.鈥�
Tamara returned home later that night.
She was glad to be home but wasn鈥檛 quite sure what was in the black smoke.
鈥淎ll our glasses in our cupboard had a film on them,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 when I was like, okay, I have to wash all our clothes, all our curtains, all our bedding. Threw out all our pillows, just started washing every dish we owned.鈥�
Like a lot of people in the town, they started hearing about a toxic group of chemicals called dioxins. They also developed health symptoms鈥揟amara has had a sore throat for weeks. It goes away when she spends the day outside of East Palestine. Nelson has had inner ear problems, which he described as a severe itchiness and strange white spots on his skin.
Tamara says for her, finding out what was in the smoke is not about propping up any kind of legal case against Norfolk Southern. It鈥檚 about understanding what kind of life they would have if they stayed.
鈥淚t鈥檚 so we know that our dog can safely go and roll around in the grass, and we鈥檙e not going to contaminate the air with cutting the lawn in the summer, and wanting to know if we can grow tomatoes and be safe to eat them.鈥�
Nelson says when they report out the results, government agencies shouldn鈥檛 sugarcoat the long-term effects of the derailment.
鈥淛ust tell me the truth,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檒l make up my mind as long as I鈥檝e got the facts. I can鈥檛 really decide what I鈥檓 going to do until I know for sure what the hell it actually is.鈥�
The Freezes are split on whether to accept Norfolk Southern鈥檚 offer to temporarily relocate while cleanup takes place. Tamara wants to leave. But Nelson doesn鈥檛 want to be away from home for months at a time.
So, for now, they鈥檙e staying in East Palestine, and waiting on test results to see how safe their home will be in the future.
, based in Pittsburgh, covers energy and the environment.