Saturday, February 18, 2023

Maryland "closely monitoring" air quality after toxic East Palestine, Ohio train derailment

Maryland Department of the Environment
air quality monitoring station

More than a few Maryland residents have been wondering if the toxic chemicals released into waterways and the air from the East Palestine, Ohio train derailment might have any environmental or health impacts here. The Maryland Department of the Environment has been "closely monitoring the situation," MDE spokesperson Jay Apperson said Friday evening. Department officials have been focused on impacts from the air, as Apperson said the runoff into the Ohio River will not affect Maryland waterways.

There has been speculation online that pollution such as airborne particulates or acid rain caused by the derailment, and by the controversial clean-up effort of toxic substances from the train cars, could impact neighboring states. Some satellite images shared on social media depicting a plume cloud from the controlled burn-off of chemicals at the crash site showed it passing over Western Maryland at times. 

But Apperson said the state has so far found nothing of concern within our borders. MDE's air quality monitoring station in Garrett County "shows no effect on levels of gas or particulate matter" as of last night, he reported. "The department will continue to monitor and evaluate the situation," Apperson added.

Photo courtesy MDE

11 comments:

  1. About 4 days ago I woke up with a scrachy throat and having respiratory issues since πŸ˜”πŸ—½⚖️πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡ΈπŸ™πŸΌπŸ’œ

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  2. I too woke up with scratchy throat and head ache... They won't tell us the truth it will be a cover up!!!

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  3. They never tell you the truth government's hiding something.

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  4. I read the comments and should say that I also woke up with a sore throat and I started to cough up some nasty green stuff just this morning. I'm in Garrett County and I wouldn't put it past anyone in this county to cover up what they found just to not cause a panic

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  5. I had a soar throat on the 18th and kept coughing and puking

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  6. my husband and i have had sore throats dundalk maryland since the 18th randomly and headaches

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  7. I’ve had a sore throat for past 2-3 days. My daughter randomly threw up yesterday.

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  8. Anybody notice a chemical odor in the air in Montgomery County the morning of February 16?

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  9. I've had a sore throat in Calvert county. Must be from this

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  10. Reports of debris or dust like particles on cars in both Frederick County and Washington County

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  11. I had stomach Flu for 2 days this week. At first I thought My son brought it from school. It started with severe pain in the abdominal area. Ended with severe muscle pain. This may be Our overmedicated immune systems in action. It started Monday night. I thought it was pollen coming out early in discomfort level felt at that time.

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