A reporter discovered three deer that were deceased along the bank of a creek that runs south from East Palestine, Ohio, and into the Ohio River on Monday.
Ben Bergquam with Real America’s Voice News announced the chilling discovery through a mobile phone video that was shared on Twitter.
It has been more than three weeks after a Norfolk Southern Southern train derailed in the community and spilled toxic chemicals throughout the area. Since the beginning of the ongoing ecological disaster, images of dead fish have been shared online.
Similar cases of affected wildlife have also been documented, as it is estimated 43,000 animals are dead.
In something Bergquam could not explain, he found three deer lifeless within yards of Little Beaver Creek and within yards of each other.
As he noted, the animals showed no signs of any physical trauma and had more or less been left alone by other wildlife.
WARNING: The following video contains disturbing images.
“More concerning footage today from our East Palestine investigation. Dead deer on the banks of Little Beaver Creek at the point where it meets the Ohio River. I followed the creek from East Palestine, to where it merges with the Ohio River to see how far the rainbow chemicals… https://t.co/UpeZoSzYMj pic.twitter.com/rpoZLczYWQ
— Grace Chong ?? (@gc22gc) February 27, 2023
The video appears to have been taken roughly 15 miles downstream from East Palestine, and just north of where Little Beaver Creek feeds into the Ohio River in Midland, Pennsylvania.
Bergquam noted he did not find any evidence of chemicals in the water, but anecdotally, what he did discover is jarring.
“What is scary, and I can’t say for sure if this is connected or if it’s just a coincidence, but it’s a very odd coincidence,” he said.
Bergquam continued, “Three dead deer within 50 yards of each other.”
The reporter noted none of the eyes to other soft tissue on the animals had been touched by scavengers. Of course, it is unclear how long the deer had been there.
He did ask the right question: “Why am I the only one here?”
Bergquam concluded he did not want to speculate as to whether the deer he encountered were poisoned by chemicals that are pouring into the Ohio River — which winds its way through the population centers including the city of Cincinnati hundreds of miles downstream.
Government officials have stated no chemicals related to the derailment have been found in the Ohio River at levels that should concern anyone.
Water officials in Cincinnati did announce last week they would stop taking in water from the river and use reserves out of “an abundance of caution.”
There is, as of right now, no way of knowing if the animals Bergquam discovered died due to anything related to the train derailment, or if people should be worried.
But the fact there is so little trust in the government’s response to the environmental nightmare in East Palestine is concerning, even if it is not at all surprising.
President Joe Biden and his administration are quite adept at creating new crises and mismanaging existing ones.
With that being noted, people living and working in the area have every reason to be on high alert and to view anything they are being told with suspicion. The country does not have a government it can rely on to adequately handle complicated situations or to be honest with us about them.
It is also tragic we no longer have a national media we can trust to search for answers on our behalf.
If we did, the banks of Little Beaver Creek would be crawling with reporters right now.
CORRECTION, Feb. 28, 2023: An earlier version of this article misquoted Ben Bergquam in his comment about dead deer and misspelled his last name.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
