Fears persist 1 year after Ohio derailment

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — Daily life largely returned to normal for most of the nearly 5,000 residents of East Palestine, Ohio, months after a Norfolk Southern train derailed and spilled a cocktail of hazardous chemicals that caught fire a year ago. But the worries and fears are always there.

Some people still report respiratory problems, rashes or headaches, or say they feel ill whenever they return to the village not far from the Pennsylvania border. At least several dozens have not returned to their homes, concerned about chemicals such as the vinyl chloride that was released and burned when officials blew open five derailed tank cars because they were worried the cars might explode.

But others believe the Environmental Protection Agency’s findings that their air and water are safe.

“We’re going to move forward with our lives,” village council member Linda May said.

But it is just harder for some residents to do that.

Misti Allison said that over the past year, her 8-year-old son Blake has asked whether he is going to die from living in their home, or whether one of the really bad nosebleeds he has started having will ever stop.

“I remember once he jumped in a puddle, and he stopped and looked at me and said, ‘Is vinyl chloride in this puddle?’ And that is just so sad,” said Allison, who testified before Congress last spring about the derailment.

“It’s really robbed our children of some of their childhood, and hopefully not more than just that.”

Experts said it will likely take years and extensive research to understand the derailment’s health implications.

Dozens of chemicals spilled and caught fire after 38 cars careened off the tracks on Feb 3 last year. More than 176,000 metric tons of contaminated soil and over 170 million liters of tainted water were removed from the area around the derailment last year. That work was largely done in October, and crews are now replacing the soil.