Nearly two weeks after a train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, community members packed a local high school auditorium on Wednesday night wanting answers to their health and safety concerns.
Norfolk Southern Corporation, the Atlanta-based operator of the derailed train, ultimately skipped the meeting, which was the first community meeting in the town of 5,000 people since the incident.
“We know that many are rightfully angry and frustrated right now. Unfortunately, after consulting with community leaders, we have become increasingly concerned about the growing physical threats to our employees and members of the community around this event stemming from increasing likelihood of the participation of outside parties,” the company said in a statement. “With that in mind, Norfolk Southern will not be in attendance this evening.”
The company said it has distributed $1.5m in helping residents cover the cost of evacuation and is setting up a $1m fund for the community for monitoring and air purifying efforts. The company faces multiple lawsuits from residents over the derailment.
“We are not going anywhere. We are committed to East Palestine and will continue to respond to community concerns,” the company said in the statement.
Agitated residents wondered aloud where the company was, with one man standing up and saying: “We’re scared, too.”
The East Palestine mayor, Trent Conaway, told residents at the town hall that he is also seeking answers.
“We need our citizens to feel safe in their own homes,” he told the crowd. “I need help. I’m not ready for this. But I’m not leaving, I’m not going anywhere.”
While health and environment officials have deemed the area safe, residents say the smell of chemicals still linger. Residents have complained of having trouble breathing, noxious smells, impacts on wildlife and ongoing concerns about water and soil contamination. An estimated 3,500 fish were killed by chemicals from the derailment in surrounding waterways, according to the Ohio department of natural resources.
Marcy Henry and her husband live just outside the one-mile evacuation radius of the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. They sheltered in place until evacuating to her parents’ home in Pennsylvania during the controlled explosion and expressed dismay over her husbands’ loss of wages due to missed work during the evacuation.
“I have concerns about what will happen in five, 10, 15 or 20 years. When we returned home our water smelled heavily of bleach,” Henry said. “Driving to my home along State Route 170 near the creek, the smell took your breath away and burned your nose and throat.”
Maura Todd, who lives within a one-mile radius of the derailment, returned to her home February 12 after staying with her parents in Kentucky. Coming back to East Palestine, she experienced nausea and headaches from the smell that lingered in her home.
“I just really don’t feel comfortable with Norfolk Southern and I don’t trust what they’ve said,” Todd said. “It would be really nice if they would really clean the area up and get it back to where it was … We have a lot of people who really enjoy being outside, seeing nature, and this feeling of being safe, and that’s something that was taken away.”
The train derailed on the night of 3 February, with 50 out of 150 train cars heading from Conway, Pennsylvania, to Madison, Illinois, going off the tracks and causing a huge fire.
The train was carrying five chemicals that are used in plastic manufacturing, including vinyl chloride, a known carcinogenic that is highly flammable. Officials evacuated up to 2,000 residents over a fear of imminent explosion and ultimately released the chemical into pits that were then lit on fire. The chemical release saw huge plumes of black smoke being released into the sky. Residents were told on 8 February that it was safe to return to their homes after officials with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tested air and water quality.
Nearly 300 homes that have been screened by the EPA for vinyl chloride and hydrogen chloride, a chemical made when vinyl chloride is burned, showed no evidence of the chemicals. The agency is still screening homes that participated in the voluntary screening program.
State officials told residents on 14 February that they should drink bottled water out of safety precautions, but the next day, the Ohio governor, Mike DeWine, announced Ohio EPA said municipal water is safe to drink.
Earthjustice, an environmental justice group, called on DeWine to declare a state of emergency to allow access to federal funding to help residents. Other groups have raised concerns about how little is known about the amount of chemicals released and the seemingly limited testing that is being done.
“This is clearly a very toxic brew of chemicals,” Erik Olson, senior strategic director for health and food with the Natural Resources Defense Council, told Reuters. “And I’ve not seen any public accounting for how many pounds or gallons of any of these chemicals that were released.”
Wires contributed to this story
