Emotions spill over at East Palestine town meeting as officials try to reassure locals that contamination does not pose immediate health risks<\/p>\n
EAST PALESTINE, Ohio \u2014 Nearly two weeks after a massive train derailment and fire unleashed a glut of toxic chemicals on this town of 4,700 people, the nation\u2019s top environmental regulator on Thursday told unnerved, exasperated residents that the Biden administration will make sure the disaster gets cleaned up \u2014 and that those responsible for it are held accountable.
\n\u201cThis incident has understandably shaken this community to its core,\u201d Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan said in an afternoon news conference here, acknowledging the lack of trust many residents have expressed about the response to the Feb. 3 disaster.
\n\u201cThe community has questions,\u201d Regan said. \u201cWe hear you. We see you, and we will get to the bottom of this.\u201d
\nHe also vowed to use the government\u2019s legal authority to penalize the company behind the spill. \u201cWe are absolutely going to hold Norfolk Southern accountable. I promise you that.\u201d
\nThe Ohio derailment has raised questions about the federal government\u2019s oversight of hazardous material shipments, and created a massive political headache for the Biden administration. Elected leaders in both parties have said the White House should have acted more swiftly to the rail disaster.
\nWhile the administration has sought to counter that criticism, it has also acknowledged the frustrations of residents about everything from health risks to the regulation of railroads.
\nNot everyone was comforted by the EPA administrator\u2019s assurances Thursday that their municipal water and air was safe, based on ongoing tests.
\n\u201cI\u2019m going to East Palestine and will get a glass of water, and I\u2019m going to ask him to drink it because I don\u2019t believe it,\u201d said Dave Anderson, a farmer in nearby New Galilee, Pa. Anderson, a plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit against Norfolk Southern, said his cattle have had diarrhea since the disaster.
\nInvestigators have said the incident, which led to the spill of toxic hazardous chemicals such as vinyl chloride and butyl acrylate, appeared to have been caused by a mechanical issue. The threat of an explosion forced the evacuation of about 1,500 residents, and the \u201ccontrolled release\u201d of vinyl chloride from unstable rail cars spewed a toxic plume into the air.
\nWhite House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday that President Biden had spoken to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) to offer ongoing federal assistance. She said representatives from multiple federal agencies have been on the ground in East Palestine, some since Feb. 4, helping state and local officials respond to the catastrophe.
\n\u201cThey\u2019re working to get to the bottom of what caused the derailment, air quality, collecting soil samples, testing surface and groundwater for any contaminants,\u201d Jean-Pierre said. \u201cAnd I know we understand the residents are concerned, as they should be, and they have questions.\u201d
\nSome in the Republican Party\u2019s right wing have used the incident to chastise the Biden administration and, in particular, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. But more criticism was leveled Thursday from a member of the president\u2019s own party.
\n\u201cIt is unacceptable that it took nearly two weeks for a senior administration official to show up,\u201d Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) said in a statement Thursday afternoon, urging the White House to \u201cprovide a complete picture of the damage and a comprehensive plan to ensure the community is supported in the weeks, months and years to come, and this sort of accident never happens again.\u201d
\nThe White House said the president has \u201cabsolute confidence\u201d in Buttigieg, and underscored that Biden has directed multiple arms of the federal government to help, from transportation investigators studying the cause of the accident to environmental scientists monitoring air and water quality to public health experts working to insure people can safely return to their homes.
\nPolitical finger-pointing aside, elected officials of every stripe have acknowledged the fear, uncertainty and anger rippling through this Ohio town.
\nConcern about air pollution from the Norfolk Southern train\u2019s wrecked rail cars has given way to long-term worries about contamination of the water and soil in East Palestine and beyond. Some locals say they are suffering headaches and rashes and are not comforted by what they see as a lack of solid answers from authorities.
\nAt a town hall meeting Wednesday night, residents left with few answers and palpable anxiety.
\n\u201cWe don\u2019t know what to think,\u201d said Michele Parker, who lives about half a mile from the derailment site, \u201cso therefore we don\u2019t know what to do.\u201d
\nResidents such as Parker this week are grappling with whiplash: State officials advised them to drink bottled water on Tuesday, but state and federal officials have also said testing shows the municipal water supply is safe. They can smell pungent odors, but authorities say harmful levels of chemicals have not been detected in the air.
\nEven as residents report nausea, dizziness, headaches and other ailments, a spokesman for DeWine told The Washington Post on Thursday that no doctors who have seen patients have identified the chemical release as a cause for people\u2019s symptoms. Instead, \u201cthere\u2019s usually another explanation for those symptoms,\u201d such as colds and flu, spokesman Dan Tierney said.
\nResidents who have reported various symptoms do note blame regular colds. Anderson, the Pennsylvania farmer, said he and his family experienced a burning sensation in the mouth, lips and tongue starting the day after the crash, as well as tongue swelling, runny nose and watery eyes. Some of the symptoms have diminished but haven\u2019t completely gone away.
\n\u201cOur tongues still feel like they have been scalded \u2014 like if you drank something that was too hot,\u201d Anderson said.
\nA massive cleanup is underway around the tracks in East Palestine, a town of about 4,700 that sits on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border, and the state is faced with developing long-term plans to track potential contamination.
\nOn Thursday, Regan continued to reassure residents. He asked people to have faith in the government\u2019s recommendations.
\n\u201cWe know that there is a lack of trust,\u201d Regan said told reporters. \u201cIf we say that the water is safe and the air is safe, we believe it, because we\u2019ve tested it and the data shows it.\u201d
\nYet other residents wonder: Will their homes now be worthless? Will the contamination leach and spread until it reaches drinking water or agricultural soil?
\n\u201cWhy are people getting sick if there\u2019s nothing in the air or the water?\u201d one woman shouted at town and state leaders gathered Wednesday night.
\n\u201cThat is a legitimate question,\u201d responded Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio).
\nNorfolk Southern backed out of the town hall, citing safety concerns, but the rail company\u2019s chief executive, Alan H. Shaw, has pledged to clean up the contamination.
\n\u201cI\u2019m just as frustrated as you guys,\u201d East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway told the crowd.
\nNorfolk Southern published an \u201copen letter\u201d to residents from Shaw on Thursday, in which he pledged to \u201cstay here for as long as it takes to ensure your safety\u201d and help the community recover. \u201cI know there are still a lot of questions without answers. I know you\u2019re tired. I know you\u2019re worried. We will not let you down,\u201d Shaw wrote.
\nMultiple agencies within the Department of Transportation have been working to support the National Transportation Safety Board\u2019s investigation into the derailment.
\nTwo members of an investigatory team from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration were in East Palestine between Feb. 3 and 14, with one expected to return next week, according to the department. Staffers from the Federal Railroad Administration also visited the site early on and are expected to return next week.
\nWhile it is the NTSB\u2019s responsibility to determine the root cause of the derailment and to issue recommendations to improve safety in the future, the Federal Railroad Administration has the power to take enforcement actions, including issuing fines, if it finds any existing rules were broken.
\nBefore the derailment in Ohio, labor unions and lawmakers had been raising concerns about safety in the industry as it has adopted a model known as \u201cprecision scheduled railroading.\u201d In recent years, freight trains have gotten longer and railroads have been exploring the use of single crew members, rather than teams of two.
\nThe top regulatory priority for the Federal Railroad Administration has been setting standards for the minimum size of crews \u2014 a push that has been opposed by the railroad industry, including Norfolk Southern, which referred questions on the proposal to the Association of American Railroads, a trade group.
\nMore federal help was set to arrive in East Palestine, according to the office of DeWine, who requested assistance in a conversation with White House officials Thursday. That came two days after the governor said he had not seen a need to request more federal aid.
\nThe state is not eligible for assistance from FEMA under federal law because of the nature of the disaster, including a lack of property damage, said Tierney, DeWine\u2019s spokesman. That means DeWine can\u2019t make an emergency declaration, as governors do after natural disasters.
\nTeams from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Health and Human Services Department plan to help examine people who report symptoms, Tierney said.
\nJohnson and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said they are examining federal regulations for trains carrying hazardous chemicals. Brown said he would push for better labeling of trains carrying hazardous materials, which he said may require a change in federal law.
\nSeveral class-action lawsuits filed by residents against Norfolk Southern demand money and medical monitoring for residents. One lawsuit, filed Wednesday, alleged that the company\u2019s efforts to clean up the disaster \u201cinstead worsened the situation.\u201d
\nNorfolk Southern has reimbursed residents for evacuation costs and set up a $1 million fund, though the company had no details about how that money would be distributed. Residents have worried that accepting payments could affect their ability to sue the rail company later; a spokesman told The Post that the payments are \u201cnot a settlement of any future claim.\u201d
\nThe railway is also handing out unlimited bottled water to residents, funding in-home air testing and providing some air purifiers. But concerns about the long-term impacts continue to mount.
\nAaron Bragg, who works as a risk engineering specialist in the chemical industry, spent Wednesday afternoon alerting neighbors to his worries about contamination. Bragg, who lives in nearby New Waterford, Ohio, and owns a rental property near the derailment, is also worried about what the pollution will mean for the town\u2019s economic viability.
\n\u201cAm I going to be able to sell that?\u201d he asked, pointing to his small cottage on East Clark Street. \u201cNo. Norfolk Southern needs to just level this whole area.\u201d<\/p>\n
Washingtonpost<\/p>\n
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