Are Videos Of Dead Fish Near Ohio Train Derailments Real?

Claim:

Videos taken after the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment and subsequent release of hazardous chemicals show dead fish in a nearby stream.

Evaluation:

On February 3, 2023, a 50-car freight train carrying dangerous goods derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. On February 6, concerns about the instability of one of these chemicals prompted the operator, the Norfolk Southern Railroad, to begin a “controlled release” of the toxic chemical vinyl chloride. The move prompted the evacuation of the immediate area around the derailment and resulted in a fiery cloud of chemicals.

Just days later, residents were told it was safe to return. These statements were received with meaning skepticism. A frequently cited challenge to reassurances that there was no safety hazard has been reports of dead fish near the chemical release. Several videos showing this event went viral after the derailment. These videos – at least all filmed of the same little stream in eastern Palestine – are authentic.

A video shared on TikTok and other platformsshows workers at an environmental science company working in a creek collecting dead fish:

Another shared on Twitter shows the same location and identifies it as Leslie Run:

Here, Snopes addresses two questions. First, do these videos authentically show a location near the train derailment in East Palestine? And second, do these videos show real events that happened after the derailment? The answer to both questions is yes.

The videos, along with their descriptions, provide enough information to make an accurate geolocation their location on Google Maps:

This place is about 3.4 miles from the Property from the derailment and chemical release, based on information from Google Maps:

Second, dead fish as well as environmental workers working at Leslie Run were widely reported in the local news media at the time, confirming that the events took place after the chemical was released. One Example comes from the Pennsylvania-based CBS Pittsburgh and reports on February 6, 2023:

With local reporting confirming the chronology and geolocation of the creek possible, these viral videos authentically show dead fish in close proximity to the East Palestine derailment and subsequent chemical release.