Dioxin, Pt 3 - Don't Forget E. Palestine, OH

The Poisoning of America

On February 3, 2023 a Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. The government chose to ignite the chemicals, leading to a multi-day inferno, spewing poisonous fumes into the air and the water, leaving residents wondering how safe it was going to be to remain in Eastern Ohio. Since that time, Federal and Ohio officials have been posting daily updates on disaster response, water and soil quality testing, and community support.

On March 10, 2023, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine released a memo expressing ‘serious concerns’ regarding the stall in the removal of contaminated soil from the train wreck and chemical burning in East Palestine. But where did the poisoned soil go? What other parts of the country were given Ohio’s chemical-laden soil and water?

Cleaning up - Does that make it safe?

The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act's (RCRA) hazardous waste program has oversight of disposal of hazardous wastes from across the country. Under this program, the EPA has responsibility for issuing permits to facilities that treat, store, and dispose of hazardous wastes. In all circumstances, the waste must be disposed of at a licensed and approved government disposal site.

As of March 10, the Ohio EPA reported that approximately 2,980 tons of solid waste had been removed from the derailment site. Keep in mind one ton is 2000 pounds (about 900 kg). Dirty soil was distributed to the following areas:

• Approx. 520 tons were hauled to Ross Incineration Services in Grafton, Ohio, to be incinerated.

• Approx. 1,270 tons were hauled to Heritage Thermal Services in East Liverpool, Ohio, to be incinerated.

• Approx. 440 tons were shipped to U.S. Ecology Wayne Disposal in Belleville, Michigan, to be placed in a landfill.

• Approx. 750 tons were hauled to Heritage Environmental Services in North Roachdale, Indiana, to be placed in a landfill.

According Gov. DeWine’s March 10th press release, the Ohio EPA has removed approximately 4.85 million gallons of liquid wastewater so far:

• Approx. 352,000 gallons were shipped to Vickery Environmental in Vickery, Ohio, to be disposed of through deep well injection.

• Approx. 4.18 million gallons were shipped to Texas Molecular in Deer Park, Texas, to be disposed of through deep well injection. 

• Approx. 320,000 gallons were hauled to Detroit Industrial Well in Romulus, Michigan to be disposed of through deep well injection.

On the most recent Ohio EPA update (March 29), approximately 9.27 million gallons of liquid wastewater and 11,900 tons of contaminated soil have been hauled out. There is still a pile of nearly 23,000 tons of excavated soil waiting to be removed.

Where does THIS contaminated soil and water go? These are designated sites to receive chemicals. Are the local citizens aware of these sites? Does anyone monitor THEIR water and soil?

And then there’s dioxin…

I wrote previously about the toxic effects of dioxin. You can read those substacks here Part 1 and Part 2.

On March 17, The Guardian published a story (really worthy of your time to read) with this information:

Newly released data shows soil in East Palestine contains dioxin levels hundreds of times greater than the exposure threshold above which Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) scientists in 2010 found poses cancer risks.

But while the current EPA officials claim that the levels are “low” from a legal standpoint, the agency’s own science suggests the levels are not safe. Dioxin experts who spoke with the Guardian cast doubt on the assessments given as a congressional testimony given by Debra Shore, an EPA regional administrator and Indiana governor, Eric Holcomb, and in fact, called the data ‘concerning’ after it was reviewed.

East Palestine soil showed levels of TCDD toxicity equivalence of 700 parts per trillion (ppt). The cleanup action is triggered at much lower rates in many states—90 ppt in Michigan, and 50 ppt in California. In 2010, EPA scientists put the cancer risk threshold for dioxins in residential soil at 3.7 ppt even though the agency recommended the cleanup trigger to be at 72 ppt.

In Ohio, the baseline ‘clean up’ level is 1000 ppt. This allows the EPA to legally claim the levels in East Palestine are safe, even if the science knows it is not.

Mental Health Needs?

The Ohio Department of Health’s Health Assessment Clinic in East Palestine, operating in partnership with the Columbiana County Health District, is operating on a walk-in basis. The State of Ohio, through the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, has been awarded a $209,402 federal grant to “meet the immediate and ongoing behavioral health needs of the East Palestine community.”

In 2023, East Palestine had a population of around 4,900 residents. Let’s assume half are adults over the age of 18yo. While that may sound like a lot of money, the math equates to about $85 per person, barely enough for one visit with a counselor.

What about the water in East Palestine?

Testing of well water (results here) and citizen’s wells and drinking water testing (results here) has been on going. The results have been posted on the EPA website here and here.

I find it interesting that the reports can conclude that “none of the chemicals identified were associated with the derailment.” How would they know this and why do they feel compelled to add this common tagline to each report?

Five monitoring wells have been drilled and tested. So far, the water has shown only low levels of contamination. The most common chemical identified is di-n-butyl phthalate, found in trace concentrations. This compound appears to have a low toxicity at trace amounts and adverse effects in humans have not been reported.

Even though water has only traces of chemicals, most at non-toxic levels, the village was given $425,499 from Norfolk Southern to obtain and install carbon filtration at their water treatment plant. This is part of what the railroad and government officials are calling a “contingency plan to ensure that East Palestine has the proper treatment in place moving forward.” Hmm.

Our Contaminated Country

There were more than 1,334 Superfund sites on the National Priorities List (NPL). Superfund sites are hazardous waste sites, such as landfills and mines, where toxic waste has been dumped. This toxic waste can leak into groundwater, streams, and soil, causing pollution that can harm humans and the environment. New Jersey is home to the most hazardous waste sites in the United States, with 115 as of October 2022. This was followed by California and Pennsylvania, which had 96 and 90 sites, respectively.

Several sites, including locations in Indiana, are not happy about tons of contaminated materials arriving in their town.

The Next Round?

Once a month, I am a guest on Brannon Howse’ show on Frankspeech.com for a healthcare perspective update. On March 28, Brannon asked me near the end of my interview, “Dr. Tenpenny, what do you think is the next assault we need to be watching for?” My response was:

“I know we’ve talked about the release of Marburg hemorrhagic viruses (Ebola). But I think people are wise to the vaccine play. I think what they are going to do next to destroy America is chemical warfare: destroy our land so we can’t grow our own food.”

While we may think that accidents such as occurred in East Palestine are a rare event, they really are not. In fact, rail accidents are surprisingly common in the US, although the consequences are seldom so dramatic. The Bureau of Transportation Statistics records 54,539 train derailments between 1990 to 2021, an whopping average of 1,704 per year. These trains were carrying roughly 6,600 tank cars containing hazardous materials and 348 cars released their contents.

Perhaps this is one more “Gift of Covid” - that all things hidden will be revealed (Luke 8:17). We had no idea how greatly our food supply was being compromised, we paid little attention to how dangerous the ENTIRE vaccine schedule was, and now, we are becoming aware of how contaminate dour country has become by chemicals and train wrecks.