A newly published report claims that a source told The Ohio Star that her husband, a wildlife biologist and consultant for the federal forestry, has received hundreds of calls in recent days from colleagues who say that they are encountering all sorts of dead animals in their parks.
The source claims to have confirmed with state laboratories that they are receiving specimens of mink, deer, elk, worms, and livers from animals that died due to toxic exposure.
"These highly toxic levels are the exact chemicals that were released from East Palestine," the source said in the report. "Wayne National Forest and Shawnee State Forest in Ohio are downriver from East Palestine and are two parks where samples are from."
(Related: The train derailment in East Palestine is believed to have created the largest dioxin plume in world history.)
According to the same source, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is part of the problem, not the solution. He is allegedly blocking scientists from getting into state parks for further testing, presumably to cover up the fallout from the disaster.
Some scientists are figuring out ways to get inside the parks regardless of DeWine's actions.
"The governor and the railroad were blocking scientists from getting soil samples in East Palestine, but they were able to still grab some for testing," the report explains. "Likewise, the soils are highly contaminated."
More could have been done to prevent this type of accident in the first place had the Donald Trump administration not changed certain rules to eliminate the safeguards that were previously in place, said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
White House spokesman Andrew Bates added to this by stating that the Trump regime, along with numerous congressional Republicans, "owe East Palestine an apology for selling them out to rail industry lobbyists when they dismantled Obama-Biden rail safety protections as well as EPA powers to rapidly contain spills."
The Washington Post challenged this allegation by reporting that the rules did not change under Trump. The outlet concluded "that not a single regulatory change made by the Trump administration caused the derailment to happen."
"A review by Glenn Kessler at The Washington Post of the regulatory changes passed by the Trump administration found that none of them could be shown to have contributed to the Feb. 3 accident," The Gateway Pundit also reported.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says the train derailment probably occurred because of an overheated wheel bearing, which was first observed in video footage captured in nearby Salem, Ohio, before the train reached East Palestine and derailed.
"This contamination is much more serious than they are admitting," one commenter on a news story suggested about all this. "All people, all wildlife, all animals, birds, etc. should avoid the Ohio River and the Mississippi River all the way to the Gulf of Mexico."
"This will cause illness, disease and death for some time. Biden, or someone, should step up and begin the cleaning NOW. Don't eat the fish or anything else that comes out of the river. Don't even go near the water. We just don't know how bad it really is!"
Another criticized the "brainless morons" who decided to intentionally blow up the derailed train cars, which sent a massive smoke plume into the skies.
The latest news about the situation in Ohio can be found at Disaster.news.
Sources for this article include: