Meanwhile, a CDC team going door to door in East Palestine got sick during their investigation in early March.
Federal prosecutors filed a civil lawsuit alleging the East Palestine train derailment polluted local waterways and violated the Clean Water ActThe US Justice Department filed a civil lawsuit against Norfolk Southern Thursday, alleging violations of the Clean Water Act and seeking damages over theThe Norfolk Southern Railway Company and parent company Norfolk Southern Corporation are both named in the suit, court records show.
"We are working with urgency, at the direction of the US EPA, and making daily progress," the statement said. "That remains our focus and we'll keep working until we make it right." The fiery derailment prompted fears of a catastrophic explosion of vinyl chloride -- a highly flammable chemical linked to an increased risk of cancer. After a mandatory evacuation order, crews released vinyl chloride into a trench and burned it off -- averting an explosion but spawning new health concerns.
"Symptoms resolved for most team members later the same afternoon, and everyone resumed work on survey data collection within 24 hours. Impacted team members have not reported ongoing health effects," a CDC spokesperson said in a statement. The DOJ isn't the only one filing a lawsuit against the railroad. The state of Ohio also filed a 58-count federal lawsuit against the rail company on March 14, saying Norfolk Southern violated numerous state, federal and Ohio common laws and violated the state's CERCLA act.
The lawsuit claims when the train derailed and cars carrying hazardous materials were breached, the dispersion and subsequent combustion of those materials released toxic chemicals into the "air, soil, groundwater, and waterways."The Ohio Department of Natural Resources reported "thousands of aquatic animals were killed in the five-mile span of waterway from the Site" to the confluence of two creeks the DOJ described as contaminated, the lawsuit says.
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