Was hiking in the general area yesterday. Stopped in EP to see how reality corresponds with the headlines. Here's what I saw.
Several black Suburbans with government plates. No official-looking government people were out on the street. There were bags affixed to several sign posts labeled EPA. Safe to assume these are air quality monitors. There were plenty of people out on the street and life was proceeding normally. It was a warm, clear and breezy day. One of many we've had recently.
At no time did I detect any sort of chemical odor. The tracks were open, I saw one train with several tankers pass through. A second train was approaching as we left. State route 165 near the state line was closed, otherwise all streets were open.
Sulphur Run at the city park is about ten feet wide and maybe a foot deep. It's the primary contaminated waterway. The spill site is about a quarter mile upstream. I did not try to access anything further upstream. It joins with Leslie run, which is about 15 feet wide and maybe a foot deep, at the city park.
Leslie Run at the city park was being aerated by several pumps. They either draw water from the creek and release it again 20 feet or so downstream or add water from the two water holding trailers nearby. Agitating the water will send whatever volitiales it contains into the air to dissipate. There were a couple white booms laid across the water. I assume these were to gather surface contaminants. The city sewage treatment plant is adjacent to the area with the pumps and trailers. I don't know where the city wells are located. You can assume they're on the outskirts of town and upstream of the treatment plant. I doubt anyone in town uses well water.
A mile or so South on State Route 170 at the Leslie Run walking path lot was another pump and an air compressor. The pump was drawing water then releasing it 20 feet down while the compressor was actively aerating the water. Two more white booms were laid across the water fifty feet down from the pumps. This spot is where most of the news reports on the water situation have originated.
My conclusion is that things are handled and the threat passed two weeks ago. The winds dissipated the toxic cloud, it has hardly rained in two weeks, and it's much less of a threat than is being reported. It's a big world, no local short-term atmospheric occurrence amounts to much more harm than a fart in the pool. Downwind, which is usually to the Northeast, there may well be some surface contamination from the fire fallout. It would be nice to see monitoring of random samples of open land. That would be Darlington, Ellwood City, the Beaver Valley, and Beaver Falls. This is rolling and heavily wooded, not much farmland. Where I was hiking there was the usual amount of wildlife and birds. Chipmunks, squirrels, and woodpeckers were all seen. Plenty of dead raccoons and skunks on the road but it's warm weather and the poor things were just out looking for love. Dead deer are always everywhere, at least two per mile is normal for the area.
On the other hand, though the threat to life is overblown, the villains are the right ones and they deserve to be hammered mercilessly for the fucking over they've given America. Please don't let up, the world is watching.
.....and then come down with the coof you are still afforded the right to free association where and with whom you wish. Meanwhile those who refuse the jab in theory must submit to the test every 48 to 72 hours to redeem only some of the rights of those who chose to take the mark. It's not a health issue, it's an obedience test. Civil disobedience is an essential component of a free society.