A tractor-trailer carrying tens of thousands of pounds of toxic soil from the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment overturned Monday and spilled about half of its contents within just a few miles of where the Norfolk Southern train crashed about two months before.
The commercial vehicle was hauling 40,000 pounds of contaminated soil from the site of the train derailment when it crashed on state Route 165 near Waterford Road, just about four miles northwest of East Palestine. The driver, 74-year-old Phillip Falck, of McDonald, Pennsylvania, sustained minor injuries from the crash and was cited for operating a vehicle without reasonable control, per WKBN.
OHIO TRAIN DERAILMENT: CDC WORKERS BECAME SICK FROM WORKING AT TOXIC SITE
🚨#BREAKING: A truck carrying over 20,000 pounds of toxic soil out of the train derailment zone in toppled over in an accident
📌#EastPalestine | #Ohio⁰
Officials say a truck hauling toxic soil out of East Palestine Ohio crashed Monday evening, spilling about half its contents… pic.twitter.com/L2iYMXWZUG— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) April 11, 2023
The northbound tractor-trailer traveled off the right side of the roadway, hit a ditch and utility pole, and overturned on its right side, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol. The agency estimated that about 20,000 pounds of soil spilled onto the roadway and grass.
Local firefighters and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency were called to the scene; the latter said the spill was contained and is not a threat to nearby waterways, law enforcement said in a release.
A Norfolk Southern train derailed and subsequently caught fire, spewing vinyl chloride, phosgene, hydrogen chloride, and other gases into the air and water while traveling from Madison, Illinois, to Conway, Pennsylvania, on Feb. 3.
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Just last week, it was revealed that employees for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention became sick in March while assessing the health effects of the train derailment, as the fallout from the disaster continues.
The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit at the end of March against Norfolk Southern, the company that owned the train that derailed in East Palestine.
