Fact check: Baseless claim that Ohio train derailment was a 'false flag' operation
The claim: Ohio train derailment was a false flag operation
A Feb. 13 Facebook post (direct link, archived link) shows screenshots of several social media posts on the Feb. 3 Ohio train derailment.
"THIS WAS PLANNED / BY DESIGN / FALSE FLAG," reads part of the post. "New reports indicate deadly vinyl chloride has contaminated the Ohio River as far as West Virginia, a water source for over 5 million."
The post generated over 500 shares in less than a week.
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Our rating: False
Environmental experts said that contaminants, such as low levels of the chemical butyl acrylate, were detected in the Ohio River from a Feb. 3 train derailment. However, the derailment was not a false flag operation, as the post claims. Vinyl chloride has not been detected in the Ohio River to date, either.
No link between Ohio train derailment and false flag operation
On Feb. 3, a train operated by Norfolk Southern was traveling to Pennsylvania when 38 rail cars derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, causing damage to an additional 12 cars, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. An additional 11 material cars that carried hazardous items also derailed.
There is no evidence this was a false flag operation.
A false flag operation is a "military action carried out with the intention of blaming an opponent for it," according to BBC News. Experts previously told USA TODAY that conspiracy theorists regularly misuse the term to falsely claim major news events were staged, as this post alleges.
Patrick Ray, assistant professor of environmental engineering at the University of Cincinnati, said it's nonsense to assert the railway disaster was planned in any fashion. Paul Ziemkiewicz, the director of the West Virginia University Water Research Institute, said there's no reason to believe the river contamination is tied to a false flag operation.
The National Transportation Safety Board announced that a mechanical issue with a rail car axle caused the Ohio derailment, as USA TODAY reported.
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At least five lawsuits have been filed against Norfolk Southern after the derailment for alleged negligence as of Feb. 15.
Over 1,000 train derailments have occurred in the U.S. since 2000, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. The most common causes of derailments have to do with broken railroads and poor infrastructure, KABC-TV reported.
Vinyl chloride not detected in Ohio River, experts say
After the derailment, authorities performed a controlled release of vinyl chloride, a flammable gas associated with increased risk of liver cancer, to avoid a major explosion.
But contrary to the post’s claim, vinyl chloride has not been detected to date in the Ohio River – a water source for about 5 million people, Ray told USA TODAY in an email.
No credible news reports indicate this, either.
Low levels of the chemical butyl acrylate from the derailment reached the Ohio River through Little Beaver Creek, a small tributary located near the Ohio and Pennsylvania border, James Lee, a spokesperson for the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, told USA TODAY in an email. However, the levels in the Ohio River pose little to no health risk for humans, Ray said.
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Health officials are tracking a plume of contaminants slowly making its way down the Ohio River, Tiffani Kavalec, chief of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency's Division of Surface Water, told reporters in a Feb. 14 news conference, according to ABC News.
“There are very very low levels of volatile organic compounds in the Ohio River itself," Kavalec said. "It appears it's been very diluted."
USA TODAY reached out to the social media users who shared the claim for comment.
Our fact-check sources:
Patrick Ray, Feb. 15, Email exchange with USA TODAY
Paul Ziemkiewicz, Feb. 15, Phone interview with USA TODAY
James Lee, Feb. 15, Email exchange and phone interview with USA TODAY
BBC News, Feb. 18, 2022, False flags: What are they and when have they been used?
Bureau of Transportation Statistics, accessed Feb. 16, Train Fatalities, Injuries, and Accidents by Type of Accident
USA TODAY, April 20, 2022, Fact check: No evidence Brooklyn subway shooting was a false flag operation
USA TODAY, Feb. 4, Train derailment in northeastern Ohio causes massive fire, evacuations
USA TODAY, Feb. 5, Ohio Gov. DeWine warns of possible 'major explosion' at train derailment site; evacuations ordered
USA TODAY, Feb. 6, Crews successfully release toxic chemicals from derailed Ohio train cars, authorities say
USA TODAY, Feb. 15, A strong stench, toxic water, and dead fish: What we know about the Ohio train derailment
National Transportation Safety Board, Feb. 14, NTSB Issues Investigative Update on Ohio Train Derailment
Cincinnati Enquirer, Feb. 10, Water works monitors for hazardous chemical in Ohio River after East Palestine derailment
ABC News, Feb. 14, Waterways along Ohio River still contaminated following train derailment carrying hazardous materials: Officials
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: No, Ohio train derailment wasn't a 'false flag' operation