Joe Harker
Residents of the Ohio village of East Palestine are stuck in a nightmarish situation after a freight train carrying the extremely toxic substance vinyl chloride derailed.
The disaster occurred on 3 February and local residents have been living through the real-life equivalent of a disaster movie ever since.
About 20 of the 50 cars on the freight train were loaded up with the hazardous chemicals and emergency crews have had to conduct a controlled burn in the hopes of scorching away the dangerous substance.
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The fire released black clouds of hydrogen chloride and phosgene into the air, with around 2,000 people ordered to evacuate the area after concerns developed that locals could suffer from respiratory infections if they stuck around.
Michael Regan, head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) visited Ohio yesterday (16 February) and tried to reassure people that the air was safe to breathe and the water fit to drink.
He walked along a creek which still bears the stench of the chemicals, something akin to fresh paint apparently, and asked for people to trust him.
He said: "I’m asking they trust the government. I know that’s hard. We know there’s a lack of trust.
"We’re testing for everything that was on that train. People have been unnerved. They’ve been asked to leave their homes."
Regan said if he lived in the area he'd move his family back in as long as testing said the situation was safe, while the EPA has said that five wells supplying drinking water to East Palestine are free from contaminants.
However, some local residents aren't convinced and people have been testing the water around the area and come up with some disturbing discoveries.
Nick Sortor yesterday filmed an object being throw into water in an attempt to demonstrate that there were still contaminated water sources around.
While you wouldn't want to dip a glass into the brown water and chug straight from the creek, you would definitely want to stay away after seeing it turn multi-coloured once an object was thrown in.
The ripples in the water quickly turned large parts of it from a muddy brown into a colorful extravaganza that wouldn't give much confidence when it comes to drinking safety.
Ohio senator JD Vance also managed to produce a similar effect when scraping the creek bed with a stick, with the shining colors a clear indication that chemicals still remained in the water.
Officials have said precautions are being taken to ensure that the contaminants do not affect the drinking water in Ohio.
The suspected cause of the train derailment that caused all of this in the first place is an issue with a rail car axle, with the National Transportation Safety Board saying they have seen a video which appears to show a wheel bearing overheating right before the train derails.