Health impacts of pollution questioned after train derailment in U.S.: Reuters

LONDON, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Residents and observers have questioned the health impacts of pollution after a train carrying toxic materials derailed in Ohio, the United States, more than 10 days ago, Reuters has reported.

Reporters pressed Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and other officials about some residents' complaints of headaches and concern that the government or the railroad were not telling them the entire truth about the pollution and potential harm, said the Reuters report published Tuesday.

The plume of pollution in the Ohio River is moving at about 1.61 km per hour toward the Mississippi River, nearing Huntington, West Virginia, on Tuesday afternoon, according to the report.

However, DeWine had said the pollution did not pose a serious threat to 5 million people who rely on the river for drinking water.

Railroad union officials said they have been warning that such an accident could happen because railroad cost-cutting harmed safety measures, said the report.

"No one wants to listen until we have a town blown off the face of the earth, then people listen," Clyde Whitaker, chairman and director of the Ohio State Legislative Board for the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers Transportation Division (SMART-TD), was quoted as saying.