Ohio train derailment: Gov. Mike DeWine says it's 'absurd' cargo wasn't considered 'high hazardous material'

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Gov. Mike DeWine: Ohio train derailment 'not considered high hazardous material train'

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said Tuesday the train carrying toxic materials and derailed in East Palestine earlier this month was not considered a highly-hazardous material train.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said it's "absurd" that the train which derailed on Feb. 3 in East Palestine wasn't classified as "high hazardous material," and is calling on Congress to take action.

A train with 50 cars, 10 of them carrying vinyl chloride, derailed in East Palestine on Feb 3. The incident caused hazardous chemicals to spill onto the ground, and also sent a plume of smoke high into the air.

DeWine said on Tuesday that the train wasn't considered a "high hazardous material train" because most of the rail cars didn't contain hazardous material, while some did.

"I learned today from the [Public Utilities Commission of Ohio] that this train was not, it was not considered high hazardous material train. Let me repeat this. This train apparently was not considered a high hazardous material train. Therefore, the railroad was not required to notify anyone here in Ohio about what was in the rail cars coming to our state," DeWine said.

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Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said it's "absurd" that the train which derailed on Feb. 3 in East Palestine wasn't classified as "high hazardous material," and is calling on Congress to take action. (Fox News)

He said that Congress needs to take action if what he's being told is true.

"Frankly, if this is true and I'm told it's true, this is absurd and we need to look at this and Congress needs to take a look at how these things are handled. We should know when we have trains carrying hazardous material that are going through the state of Ohio," DeWine said,

Ohio officials evacuated residents three days after the derailment while they conducted a controlled release of vinyl chloride which was intended to prevent an explosion, but sent thick chemical smoke into the air.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in a tweet on Tuesday that it hasn't detected any health concerns within the air in the area.

A large plume of smoke rises over East Palestine, Ohio, after a controlled detonation of a portion of the derailed Norfolk Southern trains Monday, Feb. 6, 2023. About 50 cars, including 10 carrying hazardous materials, derailed in a fiery crash. Federal investigators say a mechanical issue with a rail car axle caused the derailment.  (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

"Since the initial derailment, EPA has led robust air-quality testing (including with the state-of-the-art ASPECT plane) in and around East Palestine," EPA Great Lakes said in a tweet. "At this time, our air monitoring has not detected any levels of health concern that can be attributed to the incident."

The government agency also said that it is offering voluntary home screening to residents in the area, stating that it has "screened 396 homes and no detections of vinyl chloride or hydrogen chloride were identified."

East Palestine Fire Chief Keith Drabick said on Feb. 7 that the local air and water were safe for evacuated residents to come back home, but some residents have reported animals that are sick or dying in the area.

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Smoke rises from a derailed cargo train in East Palestine, Ohio, on February 4, 2023. - The train accident sparked a massive fire and evacuation orders, officials and reports said Saturday. No injuries or fatalities were reported after the 50-car train came off the tracks late February 3 near the Ohio-Pennsylvania state border. The train was shipping cargo from Madison, Illinois, to Conway, Pennsylvania, when it derailed in East Palestine, Ohio.  ((Photo by DUSTIN FRANZ/AFP via Getty Images))

In a Feb. 10 letter to Norfolk Southern, the EPA said that the company is liable for cleanup and said some contaminated soil wasn't disposed of correctly, according to WKBN.

"Five railcar tankers of vinyl chloride were intentionally breached; the vinyl chloride was diverted to an excavated trench and then burned off. Areas of contaminated soil and free liquids were observed and potentially covered and/or filled during reconstruction of the rail line including portions of the trench /burn pit that was used for the open burn off of vinyl chloride," the EPA said in the letter.

This photo taken with a drone shows portions of a Norfolk Southern freight train that derailed Friday night in East Palestine, Ohio are still on fire at mid-day Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023.  (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Norfolk Southern told the outlet that some soil was moved around while workers began cleanup initially.

"We will continue to remediate the site, including the removal of soil, to reach or exceed regulatory standards. Soil taken from the site is moved to a separate site for testing before being safely disposed of," a company spokesperson told the outlet.

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One East Palestine resident, Nathan Velez, told 'Jesse Watters Primetime" that he has had persisting headaches that are related to the chemicals in the air.

A train fire is seen from a farm in East Palestine, Ohio. (AP)

"My house is just across the tracks … and it smells, too. You can’t spend a lot of time here without feeling like crap," he said. "And my question is why, if it’s okay if it’s safe, and all these people say it’s safe, if it’s so safe and okay then why does it hurt?"

Fox News Digital has reached out to PUCO, EPA, and Norfolk Southern for comment.

Fox News' Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.