AP Exclusive: EPA didn’t declare a public health emergency after fiery Ohio derailment

The aftermath of last year’s fiery train derailment in eastern Ohio doesn’t qualify as a public health emergency because widespread health problems and ongoing chemical exposures haven’t been documented, federal officials said. But EPA Response Coordinator Mark Durno said the label, which the agency has only used once before in Libby, Montana — where hundreds of people died and thousands were sickened from widespread asbestos exposure — doesn’t fit East Palestine even though some residents still complain about respiratory problems and unexplained rashes. Durno said the reason a public health emergency isn’t being considered is that “we have not had any environmental data” about ongoing chemical exposures in the extensive air, water and soil testing program. The EPA said in a statement that the order it did issue telling Norfolk Southern it was responsible for the damage declared that “the conditions at the derailment site ‘may constitute an imminent and substantial endangerment to the public health or welfare or the environment.’” So the agency said it didn’t see a need for a public health emergency because it had the legal authority it needed to respond.