Jackie Medcalf collects little plastic pellets from the muddy earth at the bottom of the fallen rail car and places them in a mason jar. She puts the container in her tote bag after capping the jar when it is almost halfway full. She takes a picture of the area where each mason jar is filled.
Pellets of plastic near the train car. Pellets a short distance distant. Pellets were flying straight out of the train car.
According to Medcalf, this has to do with accountability. We’ll find out if they refuse to tell us what’s happening.
Medcalf, the founder of the organization Texas Health and Environment Alliance in Houston, is standing in the early hours of Monday afternoon where 14 train cars derailed on Friday night in East Harris County, displacing piles of nurdles, which are tiny plastic pellets used in the production of plastic.
Residents and environmental activists were worried by the train catastrophe. Residents and environmentalists said they are being kept in the dark about the nurdles that are dispersed over the neighborhood and the efforts being made to clean it up, even though the city and the train operator, Union Pacific Railroad, have affirmed that any immediate risk has passed. As a result, environmentalists like Medcalf are conducting fieldwork to gather data that they claim may never be made public.
The incident was only reported to Medcalf a few hours after it happened on Friday night. She was called by locals who were worried that the rail cars would explode or release pollutants into the environment. Some of the vehicles included petroleum gas in addition to the pellets. She made the decision to visit the region on Monday and gather samples with her team.
According to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, the conductor tried to join two trains together, and the train cars collided. The cars were pulled off the rails by the collision. Additionally, a blasting and painting business had its whole outer wall torn down when two train cars crashed into its side.
A few train cars ended up in the yards of residences, while others found their way into the canals that supply drinking water to the city of Houston’s East Water Purification Plant, which is located in Lynchburg Reservoir. But according to city officials, no train cars discharged any pollutants into the air or water.
Union Pacific said in a statement that the inquiry into Friday’s incident is still ongoing.
Medcalf and two other THEA members proceeded down the train lines at the scene of the crash, stopping sometimes to collect a sample or to divert off the track in order to examine a derailed car. Residents of Harris County frequently worry about the trains, which have been passing through the area for many years. They have historically contaminated entire neighborhoods and can stop for hours at a time, posing a major risk to children.
Many hours after the event, Union Pacific staff cleared the track and utilized heavy machinery to upright some of the cars, allowing the trains to continue their voyage. According to Robynn Tysver, Union Pacific’s media relations, the cleanup will be carried out by the firm and is currently underway. However, the company stated that it does not have an estimated time of completion.
Problem with nurdles
The city stopped drawing water from the canals after the train cars derailed on Friday night by shutting off the Lynchburg Reservoir’s water pumps. After Hazmat first responders concluded there were no leaks, they were turned back on.
According to Houston Public Works public information officer Erin Jones, there was no contamination and no effect on the water supply. On Saturday, everything at the reservoir was back to normal.
Nurdles were still strewn all over the collision site as of Monday afternoon, confounding locals and raising concerns for THEA members. According to Grizzy’s Hood News, a local news outlet in Houston, the newborns were in enormous mounds right after the accident.
About the size of a lentil, nudles are melted down and used to make plastic bags, clothing, water bottles, and other products. With an estimated 230,000 metric tons entering the ocean annually, they are a significant contributor to microplastic contamination.
Wildlife frequently consumes these little plastic pellets when it comes across them because they resemble food. Malnutrition or hunger may result in the end because the plastic cannot be broken down.
Even though the pile of nurdles from the accident night had been cleared away, the little plastic pellets that were left there still resembled a coating of snow in the mud.
Medcalf looks worried as he points to a resident’s chicken coop next to one tilted train car. Following the event, the resident had roughly six train cars in his yard. Water may have pushed the plastic around because it rained the night of the derailment.
“I mean, if they haven’t already, these birds will definitely eat the plastic,” she remarked. It’s challenging to find them all because the nudles end up everywhere.
Rachel Jordan, a member of THEA, paused at another location to spoon up some pellets and sand that appeared green. The squad finds pellets everywhere they look.
As she rolled a pellet between her fingers, Medcalf remarked, “I’ve been told that these kinds of pellets have very specific chemical signatures.” We’re rather worried since plastic lingers for a long time and the pellets are so visible right here.
Interfab Services, a blasting and coating plant whose outer wall facing the rail lines was totally demolished in the incident, is the source of the green sand.
Felix Valdez, the company’s president and CEO, claimed that after leaving the building for the evening, a neighbor contacted him back and stated, “Something is blowing up your place.” He didn’t leave until about 4 am, having arrived at 8:45 or 9 pm.
On Monday, he described it as frightening. You get to a point when you are looking at the damage and you re looking at a tanker five feet from you that could explode at any time. They are handling such sensitive material.
He estimates the damage to the property is around $250 thousand, but he said Union Pacific told him they would take care of everything. Valdez said they also said not to worry about the nurdles, that the plastic can be dangerous for wildlife and fish, but he shouldn t be worried about ground contamination.
The train cars that fell in the canal have since been removed. One car with the words Non odorized liquified petroleum gas is lying on its side just across the tracks. Another THEA member, Kristy Smith, takes a photo of the train car and looks around it to see if she should collect any samples.
Medcalf and Jordan look around the canal where the train cars fell in.
You know, maybe people are doing work on cleaning this up, but too often these kinds of things get brushed under the rug, Medcalf said. And if they are doing work, we re not being informed about it.
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