Arizona officials confirmed Wednesday morning that a shelter-in-place that was issued a day before was reinstated after a crash that resulted in a spill of hazardous chemicals—coming days after a train derailed and released toxic materials in Ohio.
The department urged motorists and members of the public to “avoid the area” and that “Unified Command advises anyone within the one-mile perimeter to turn off heaters and/or air conditioning systems that bring in outside air.” The agency further expects an “extensive closure,” according to the update.
The initial shelter-in-place order was lifted around 10:45 p.m. ET before it was reinstated on Wednesday morning at around 8 a.m. ET. Those who were initially evacuated will have to stay outside the half-mile perimeter, authorities said.
The driver of the vehicle that had transported the chemicals later died, officials said.
A highly corrosive material, nitric acid is a colorless liquid that can emit yellow or red fumes, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It has an acrid odor, officials say.
“Prolonged exposure to low concentrations or short-term exposure to high concentrations may result in adverse health effects,” the National Library of Medicine says on its website.
Ohio Incident
The incident comes days after a Norfolk Southern-operated train derailed near East Palestine, Ohio, leading to a spill of volatile and toxic chemicals. Authorities in Ohio later initiated the controlled release and burn of those chemicals, while citing an explosion risk if they did not.Because federal and state agencies were slow to issue updates about the train fire, there has been widespread speculation about the incident. Meanwhile, locals who live near the derailment site complained about adverse health events and others said they’ve witnessed animals dying off, including chickens, foxes, and fish.
“We know there is a plume (of chemicals) moving down the Ohio River,” Tiffani Kavalec, the head of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency’s water management subdivision, said in a news conference. “We think it’s on its way towards Huntington, West Virginia, now,” she added.
In that same press conference, state officials, including Gov. Mike DeWine, advised East Palestine residents and people who use private well water to drink bottled water—namely if they are pregnant or breastfeeding women.
After the press conference, many questions remain unanswered after the train derailment and fire. The train, notably, was carrying the highly toxic vinyl chloride.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday that videos of the train incident appear to show “a wheel bearing in the final stage of overheat failure moments before the derailment” earlier this month. “The suspected overheated wheel bearing has been collected and will be examined by engineers from the NTSB Materials Laboratory in Washington, D.C,” it said.
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