The train cars were carrying hot asphalt and molten sulfur, Stillwater County Disaster and Emergency Services said. Officials shut down drinking water intakes downstream while they evaluated the danger after the 6 a.m. accident. An Associated Press reporter witnessed a yellow substance coming out of some of the tank cars. David Stamey, the county's chief of emergency services, said there was no immediate danger for the crews working at the site, and the hazardous material was being diluted by the swollen river. There were three asphalt cars and four sulfur cars in the river.
What are dioxins and did the Ohio train crash release them into the air?
The U.S. government is ordering railway operator Norfolk Southern to clean up contaminated soil and water at the site of a hazardous train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, where officials are trying to convince wary residents their tap water is safe to drink. But the main pathway that dioxin gets into human bodies is not directly through something burning. It's through consumption of meat, dairy, fish and shellfish that have become contaminated. That contamination takes time.