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By Josh Funk

The Associated Press

The creeks around聽East Palestine, Ohio, were so badly contaminated by the disastrous聽Norfolk Southern train derailment聽last year that some workers became sick during the cleanup.

Workers who reported headaches and nausea 鈥� while shooting compressed air into the creek bed, releasing chemicals from the sediment and water 鈥� were sent back to their hotels to rest, according to a report obtained by The Associated Press about their illnesses.

The findings were not released to the public last spring, despite residents鈥� concerns about the聽potential health effects聽of exposure to the long list of chemicals that spilled and burned after the disaster. The workers鈥� symptoms, as described in the report, are consistent with what Centers for Disease Control and Prevention workers going door-to-door in town had reported shortly after the Feb. 3, 2023, derailment.

Some residents have since reported unexplained rashes, asthma and other respiratory problems, and serious diseases including male breast cancer.

Researchers are still determining how many of those health problems can be linked to the derailment and how the disaster will impact the long-term health of residents in the area near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border. Many people wonder whether there will be cancer clusters down the road.

In the meantime, residents have until Thursday to decide whether to accept聽up to $25,000聽鈥� as part of a聽$600 million class action settlement聽with the railroad to compensate them for any future health problems. Accepting that money means giving up the right to sue later, when the cost of health care coverage and specific treatments needed will become clearer.

Not one worker who got sick during the cleanup 鈥渞eported lingering or long-term symptoms,鈥� Norfolk Southern spokeswoman Heather Garcia said.

鈥淭he health and safety of our employees, contractors, and the community has been paramount throughout the recovery in East Palestine,鈥� Garcia said.

The creek cleanup work continued, but nearly three weeks later, another worker got sick. This time, work was halted altogether. Other cleanup efforts have followed since but without use of high-pressure air knife tools.

Independent toxicologist George Thompson, who has been following the aftermath of the Ohio wreck, said the cleanup contractors, overseen by the Environmental Protection Agency, should have known the work they were doing would release chemicals from the sediment into the air and water. In fact, that is what CTEH was monitoring during the project. And with one of the main streams, Sulphur Run, going directly through town and in culverts under homes and offices, Thompson said those chemicals could have infiltrated buildings.

鈥淵ou鈥檙e just spreading out the chemicals for exposure,鈥� Thompson said. 鈥淎nd I just think that it was not an informed decision to use air knifing at all.鈥�

Resident Jami Wallace said she lost her voice for two weeks after she got too close to one of the air knifing machines, which was placed near her driveway. She said when the machine was turned on, it felt like being hit by an invisible wall emitting a sweet chemical smell much like when the train derailed.

The CTEH report was submitted to Unified Command, the group overseeing disaster response 鈥� including federal, state and local officials along with Norfolk Southern 鈥� but no one released it despite significant public interest. CTEH鈥檚 principal toxicologist, Paul Nony, confirmed the report was given to the command center, and officials there were alerted about the illnesses.

When CDC workers got sick 鈥� also with headaches and nausea 鈥� that news generated headlines nationwide.

East Palestine resident Misti Allison said not enough is being done to monitor long-term health effects on the community, and this report substantiates their health concerns. She said this report should never have been kept from the public.

鈥淚t鈥檚 absolutely egregious, and that shouldn鈥檛 happen,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 think that any type of information like that 鈥� just like when the CDC workers came to the area and got sick 鈥� that should be disclosed instead of diminished. Especially when it comes to human health, nothing should be swept under the rug.鈥�

The East Palestine derailment that happened on the night of Feb. 3, 2023, was easily the worst rail disaster since a crude oil train leveled the small Canadian town of Lac Megantic and killed 47 people in 2013. It prompted a national reckoning with rail safety and calls for reform 鈥� although proposals for new industry rules have聽stalled in Congress.

Thirty-eight cars derailed, including 11 carrying hazardous materials such as butyl acrylate and vinyl chloride. After the crash, a fire burned for days. Fearing the five vinyl chloride cars would explode, officials then聽needlessly blew them open, and intentionally burned the toxic plastic ingredient.

That created a massive plume of thick black smoke over the area. The NTSB determined that the decision-makers that day never received the key opinion 鈥� that the cars were not likely to explode 鈥� from the chemical manufacturer.

CTEH said that its environmental testing around the creeks confirmed there were elevated levels of an assortment of chemicals in the air and sediment. But the group didn鈥檛 find either of the two chemicals of greatest concern: vinyl chloride or butyl acrylate. Sediment testing at nine locations along the creeks where cleanup workers reported strong odors showed 37 different chemical compounds that were primarily either hydrocarbons or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

Because of that, CTEH said it was clear that some of the contamination in the creeks came from industries that operated in the area years before the 2023 derailment. However, those compounds could have also been created from chemicals burning after the train crash.

Nony, the head CTEH toxicologist, said that his company鈥檚 responsibility during the air knifing operation was primarily to monitor air quality.

The EPA has said that it doesn鈥檛 believe people are being exposed to any toxic chemicals on an ongoing basis because concerning levels of chemicals haven鈥檛 been found in their air and water tests since the evacuation order was lifted.

The overall cleanup effort in East Palestine is expected to be completed sometime later this year.