Question: According to [Impact Nottingham](https://impactnottingham.com/2023/02/east-palestine-ohio-exploring-the-worst-environmental-disaster-in-the-history-of-the-usa/):

> 
> East Palestine, Ohio: Exploring The Worst Environmental Disaster in
> the History of the USA
> 
> 
> On 3rd February 2023, a freight train carrying various potentially
> hazardous chemicals derailed in the town of East Palestine in Ohio,
> USA. This tragic environmental disaster is causing the residents of
> East Palestine to fear for their safety, as well as that of the town’s
> water and air. Thomas Martin explores the aftermath of the event, and
> solutions to prevent incidents like in the future.
> 
> 
> 

A similar notion is echoed by [activist Erin Brockovich](https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/3871176-erin-brockovich-east-palestine-a-disaster-like-one-ive-never-seen/):

> 
> Environmental activist Erin Brockovich has called the derailment of a
> train carrying hazardous chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio, earlier
> this month a disaster “like one I’ve never seen.”
> 
> 
> Brockovich, who discovered that groundwater contamination from Pacific
> Gas and Electric Company was sickening residents in the small town of
> Hinkley, Calif., in the 1990s, told “CNN This Morning” that the East
> Palestine incident feels reminiscent of the disastrous Hinkley case.
> 
> 
> 

Is it true that the [East Palestine train derailment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Ohio_train_derailment) can be considered the "worst environmental disaster in US history"?

Answer: 
It certainly was a nasty disaster, but the worst environmental disaster in US history? That is extremely dubious. That claim is just newsies and others wanting to get top headlines. Think back to the [Exxon Valdez oil spill](https://darrp.noaa.gov/oil-spills/exxon-valdez), the [Three Mile Island disaster](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Mile_Island_accident), the [Dust Bowl](https://houstonpbs.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/ecological-disaster-ken-burns-dust-bowl/ken-burns-the-dust-bowl/), [Love Canal](https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/SiteProfiles/index.cfm?fuseaction=second.cleanup&id=0201290), the [BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill](https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/deepwater-horizon-bp-gulf-mexico-oil-spill), and the list goes on and on. We won't know the full extent of the damage from the East Palestine train derailment for years. To immediately call it the worst environmental disaster in US history is at best premature, and more likely is plain old headline-grabbing newsiness.
While it is somewhat a matter of opinion what disaster was worst, there are clear examples that were much worse. I'll just mention one.

The 1944 liquefied natural gas tank [explosion](https://Cleveland%20East%20Ohio%20Gas%20explosion), also in Ohio:

About 131 dead.

79 houses and 2 factories destroyed.

[![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/YSTJ7.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/YSTJ7.jpg)

[Image source](https://www.cleveland.com/metro/2014/10/east_ohio_gas_explosion_70_yea.html)