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Urgent evacuation ordered in Ohio's East Palestine after train carrying deadly vinyl chloride derails in fiery accident

'You need to leave, you just need to leave. This is a matter of life and death,' said Ohio Governor Mike DeWine

EAST PALESTINE, OHIO: The derailment of a train filled with deadly, unstable chemicals has forced authorities to order an immediate evacuation in the Ohio village of East Palestine. Officials have warned the five train cars carrying the dangerous chemical vinyl chloride, which is highly toxic and explosive, could result in what the governor called a "catastrophic explosion."  

The Ohio rail crew executed a "controlled release" of the toxic chemical after five Norfolk Southern rail cars derailed in a fiery accident on Friday night, February 3. Residents within a one-by-two-mile radius of the train have been evacuated after they heard a loud bang and saw a massive plume of smoke billowing into the sky.

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What is vinyl chloride? 

The toxic chemical vinyl chloride is used to make plastic PVC. This substance can be used in pipes, car parts, packing materials, and more, according to the Ohio Department of Health. The five wrecked railcars carrying the chemical could explode, emitting toxic fumes and sending deadly shrapnel into the air up to a mile away. To prevent the chemical from mixing with the air, the rail crew were planning to release it by drilling a small hole on each of the carriages. 

"This will allow the material to come out of the tank car," Scott Deutsch, a Norfolk Southern Railroad official, said on Monday, according to WKYC. "It will go into a pit and trench that we have dug and set up for this operation. Inside that trench will be flares lining that trench that then will light off the material." 

What are the side effects of vinyl chloride?

Inhaling the substance could cause dizziness in most people, but extended or close exposure to it could lead to suffocation, nerve damage, or even liver cancer, WKYC reported. Ohio Gov Mike DeWine and Pennsylvania Gov Josh Shapiro had ordered an emergency evacuation of residents from a one-by-two-mile radius surrounding East Palestine, a village of about 5,000 people near the Pennsylvania border, DeWine said.

"You need to leave. You just need to leave. We are ordering you to leave," Gov DeWine said to those being evacuated during a press conference, according to WKYC. "This is a matter of life and death." Dewine added that anyone who chooses to remain in the area could face a "grave danger of death." Once the situation is settled, a team from the Environmental Protection Agency will monitor the air and water quality in the area to determine the extent of exposure, officials said.