- Natural resource officials estimate more than 43,000 animals have died in and around East Palestine, Ohio.
- Officials estimated 38,222 minnows and around 5,550 other species, such as other fish, crayfish and amphibians, were killed during the derailment.
- None of the species killed are threatened or endangered, officials say.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources estimate more than 43,000 animals have died in and around East Palestine roughly three weeks after the train derailment.
Agency Director Mary Mertz said Thursday that officers have been on site every day since the Feb. 3 derailment of a Norfolk Southern train carrying toxic chemicals and believe all the fish killed as a result of the incident died immediately.
Officials estimated 38,222 minnows and around 5,550 other species – such as other fish, crayfish and amphibians – were killed during the derailment. The deaths occurred in a five-mile span within the impact area.
None of the species killed are threatened or endangered, Mertz said.
"Because the chemicals were contained, we haven't seen any additional signs of aquatic life suffering," she said.
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The ODNR held a virtual news conference Thursday morning to discuss the impact on wildlife of the derailment and chemical burn of vinyl chloride to prevent a potential explosion.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has identified four other substances that leaked into the air, water and soil during the derailment: butyl acrylate, ethylhexyl acrylate, ethylene glycol monobutyl ether and isobutylene.
Other reports of animals dying after East Palestine train derailment
There have been anecdotal reports of animals in and around East Palestine becoming sick or dying. Murray & Murray, a Sandusky-based law firm, filed a lawsuit against Norfolk Southern that claims animals and fish are dying as far as 20 miles away from the derailment site.
A West Virginia University student who took videos of waterways in East Palestine told Cleveland 19 News he found tens of thousands of dead fish and frogs in the water.
Mertz said ODNR hasn't seen an impact on species that feed on or interact with the ones killed. The agency received reports of three dead birds and an opossum in the area and sent the animals to the Ohio Department of Agriculture for testing, which found no evidence of chemical poisoning.
"We have no reason to believe that those terrestrial animal deaths were as a result of the spill," she said.
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A majority of the dead fish have been removed from the waterways.
ODNR will continue to monitor the environmental impact during cleanup. There is no time estimate for how long it will take for the ecological system to recover.
How did ODNR calculate aquatic deaths in East Palestine?
Mertz said ODNR officers arrived in East Palestine the morning after the derailment to survey the waterways to determine the impact on aquatic life. The Ohio EPA advised ODNR personnel that it was too dangerous to enter the water without specialized equipment. In response, ODNR consulted with Enviroscience, an environmental consulting firm that was already on site working to contain the spill.
Enviroscience used ODNR's standards to survey the water for dead aquatic species. They established four collection stations and gathered data on Feb. 6 and 7.
Officials previously said they found roughly 3,500 dead fish in local waterways, including 12 different species. Mertz said this estimate was based on visual observations, and the confirmed sample was 2,938 aquatic species, which was slightly smaller than the initial estimate.
Wildlife investigators at ODNR then applied a science-based calculation to the sample number to determine the total number of dead aquatic species.
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Follow reporter Paige Bennett on Twitter @paigembenn.
