After the train derailment in Ohio and subsequent fire released more than 1.1m pounds of toxic chemicals, it was "too dangerous to enter the water without specialized gear and the proper equipment." Now it's safe to drink, say officials, though governor Mike DeWine took no chances at yesterday's tapwater-kissing party in East Palestine. Perhaps all the vinyl chloride, butyl acrylate, ethylene glycol, isobutylene, and ethylhexyl acrylate was absorbed by the 43,000 dead fish in the water.
Over the course of two days, from Feb. 6-7, that group collected samples at four different sites. During that time, 2,938 dead aquatic animals were found, 2,200 of which were small minnows, with the remaining animals being fish, amphibians and invertebrates. Based on that sample size, officials were able to calculate the total aquatic animal death toll within the 7.5-mile ara that was impacted by the train derailment. Those calculations show a significantly higher toll than what was originally sampled. According to Mertz, the newest estimates show that roughly 38,222 small fish were potentially killed as a result of the derailment, as well as an additional 5,500 other species of fish, amphibians and other creatures.
