Officials say controlled release of chemicals following train derailment was successful
Good evening three days after a fiery train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, more explosions and smoke to tell you about tonight. But today's blast is the direct result of a controlled release of those hazardous chemicals. Brad Underwood joining us tonight here in studio with a closer look at what happened today. Brad. Well Kyle, you know the fire and that thick smoke sitting over East Palestine is the result of you mentioned a controlled breach of those tankers. Norfolk is the only one that's operating the derailed train cars calls the operation a success today while avoiding potentially catastrophic explosions. To avoid rail cars from exploding and releasing toxic gases into the air, railroad crews instead lit the fire themselves in what Norfolk Southern calls a controlled release.
Well, but a two and a half, three inch hole in the car. If we don't do that, the car could continue to pose a threat. If we don't do that, the car could continue to polymerize and the entire car will break apart. We can't control where that goes. Flames from Friday night's train derailment could be seen for miles near the Pennsylvania State Line. It's black. Clouds.
Black smoke just all over and all over. Like a bill of hay. From the air, the damage is more clear as the twisted and tangled train continues to burn. I went outside on the porch and looked and you see flames shooting about 20 feet in the air. Mandatory evacuations forced residents of the village of about 4800 out. Those in the red affected area are most at risk. Those in the orange stand very high proclivity for serious injury, especially to their lungs.
The chemical in these tankers is vinyl chloride a colorless gas that burns easily. It has many commercial uses, but is primarily used to make PVC piping. Not only flammable, it's linked to causing cancer. If they started to react on their own again, we can't control that time of day when that would occur. That would in turn, we'd have to worry about an inversion and other things weather related. Okay, so we want to do it in the daylight. That's really a waiting game now for those evacuees from this train derailment.
Will their homes be safe? What comes next? Everyone still doesn't have the answers to these questions right now. No deaths or injuries have been reported though. Kyle. Alright, Brett, under with leading us off tonight, Brett. Thank you so much. So far, officials say the areas air and water quality are safe and they stress that the Ohio EPA will remove any contaminants from nearby streams. Now the cause of the crash is still under investigation.
However, the NTSB is reviewing some videos right now that show a mechanical issue with one of the rail cars back some.
WKRC, WKRC Local 12, Cincinnati, Ohio