Despite evacuation orders being lifted on February 8, many locals say that town’s streams still have signs of contamination and people are having unexplained rashes, sore throats and other major health issues after coming back to their homes.
"Doctors say I definitely have the chemicals in me but there’s no one in town who can run the toxicological tests to find out which ones they are," Wade Lovett, 40, an auto detailer, said in an extremely high-pitched voice. "My voice sounds like Mickey Mouse. My normal voice is low. It’s hard to breathe, especially at night. My chest hurts so much at night I feel like I’m drowning. I cough up phlegm a lot. I lost my job because the doctor won’t release me to go to work."
Locals are dissatisfied with the US authorities' handling of the East Palestine train derailment and subsequent chemical explosion. Biden recently ordered officials to conduct house-to-house visits but many are desperate for aid now. House Republicans opened an investigation into the derailment and have slammed Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg for a possible "delayed response."
Meanwhile, East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway criticized President Biden for heading to Ukraine instead of the scene of the toxic train derailment, calling it "the biggest slap in the face", residents themselves have started to form a grass-root campaigns demanding that their plight be taken seriously.
One of those residents, 46-year-old Jami Cozza, is a lifelong East Palestinian with 47 close relatives in the area. Many of them are facing health issues from the chemical fire and have been highly disturbed with the response by the local and federal government, and Norfolk Southern.
For example – Cozza’s 91-year-old widowed grandmother tried to clean the chemicals off the furniture in the house she’s lived in for 56 years. But she failed and had to move to a hotel just to sleep at night.
"My fiancé was so sick that I almost took him to the hospital," Cozza told the New York Post. "Not only am I fighting for my family’s life, but I feel like I’m fighting for the whole town’s life. When I’m walking around hearing these stories, they’re not from people. They’re from my family. They’re from my friends that I’ve have grown up with. People are desperate right now. We’re dying slowly. They’re poisoning us slowly."
One of the biggest questions is whether Norfolk Southern’s decision to burn the chemicals via "controlled explosion" was the correct one — or if it was just the cheapest one.
A suit filed on behalf of East Palestine’s residents states that Norfolk Southern went rogue with its decision to explode deadly vinyl chloride train cars three days after the derailment, resulting into poisoning the town and nearby region. According to the suit about 500,000 kgs of toxic vinyl chloride were spilled and burned, thus contaminating soil and water sources.
"The bad smell comes and goes," said local resident Shelby Walker. "Yesterday was the first day in probably three or four days that I could smell anything. I lost my smell and my sense of taste. I had an eye infection in both eyes. I was having respiratory issues like I was just out of breath. Other members of my family have had eye infections and strep throat. The cleanup crew drives past us at night and won’t even look at us. It’s like we don’t exist. No one has reached out to us or told us anything."
An independent analysis by Texas A&M University of Environmental Protection Agency data, backs the suit. It found nine air pollutants at levels that could lead to long-term health concerns in and around East Palestine, despite previous federal statements on the air being safe.
A spokesman for Norfolk Southern said it had to take action in the form of a controlled burn to avoid a potential "catastrophic failure of the cars" due to failure of pressure relief devices in one train cars, adding that the company conducted talks with various experts. The National Safety Transportation Board report backs up Norfolk Southern’s.
But many deemed company’s actions to be inadequate.
"The company’s decision was very suspicious," said Rene Rocha of the Morgan & Morgan law firm and one of the lead attorneys on the case. "Norfolk Southern discharged more vinyl chloride into a small area in eastern Ohio in a day than the entire industries combined of America discharge in a year."
Moreover, it is noted that because of Ohio's decision to waive punitive damages, the maximum amount Norfolk Southern will be able to pay is just $350,000. It was also noted that company repaired the tracks, put new gravel and began running trains one day after the explosion without remediating the soil.
"We have to put all our differences aside and show the world we are East Palestine Strong. We are at war with corporate greed. We need accountability and we need answers. We are here to make our town safe. And by the way, don’t tell us we’re aren’t getting sick, that it’s all in our head. We are getting sick," said Cozza.
Cozza also draws attention to the fact that the $1,000 paychecks were given only after residents had signed papers, stating they would not ask for more.
"Until the government takes this seriously there are going to be real problems," said Stephen Lester, a Harvard-trained toxicologist at the Center for Health. "It’s criminal that the EPA didn’t come forward with information about dioxin and start testing for it."
"We’re not going to shut up," she said. "We’re not weak but we need support. We’re here for the long run. Trump came here and then he was gone. What’s he going to do for us, really? We’re going to do it ourselves and we’re organizing from the ground up."