Most students in class, but parents are concerned
For EAST PALESTINE, OHIO — Chris Neifer, the first indication that something was wrong the night of Feb. 3 came when he received a call from one of his basketball coaches.
Something had happened on the railroad, the coach said, and his way home was blocked.
Within minutes, Neifer, the superintendent of the town’s school district, started receiving calls from first responders and Columbiana County officials who said they needed to use the high school as a shelter.
“That whole next 24 hours was really just a whirlwind. Trying to rally resources and provide safety for our people,” Neifer said.
In the hours and days after a Norfolk Southern freight train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed and caught fire in this village of about 4,700 residents, the East Palestine High School gymnasium became the center of relief efforts. For five days it operated as a shelter where displaced people came to get information and supplies.
Across the street, the elementary school was used as an incident command center. Neifer said both sites were chosen, in part, because they were deemed far enough away from where 38 cars of the 141-car train derailed, spilling hazardous materials into the environment and spurring health concerns.
The derailment sparked a fire that raged for days. Residents within a 1-mile by 2-mile area surrounding East Palestine were evacuated when Norfolk Southern, fearing five cars of vinyl chloride would explode, conducted a controlled release and burn of the odorless gas on Feb. 6, sending a column of hot, black smoke into the sky.
Vinyl chloride is used to make polyvinyl chloride hard plastic resin in plastic products and is associated with an increased risk of liver cancer and other cancers, according to the federal government’s National Cancer Institute. Officials warned the controlled burn would send toxic gas phosgene and hydrogen chloride into the air.
Once the evacuation order was lifted Feb. 8, Neifer said areas of school buildings that had been used for the shelter and incident command center were deep cleaned. Surfaces were wiped down, HVAC systems were inspected, air filters were changed and air handlers were scrubbed.
In addition, each building’s air quality was tested. Results that came back Feb. 12 showed the air was safe to breath, Neifer said.
Neifer said since then, the school district has been operating as usual. Attendance has averaged about 90%, which is where it usually is, according to Neifer. Take home assignments are available for students whose families have been displaced or aren’t comfortable being in East Palestine at the moment.
“If you were to walk through our halls right this minute you would see a school building just like you see anywhere else,” Neifer said. “Our teachers are getting the job done, all of my staff is doing an amazing job. Our extra-curricular activities are continuing, my kids are going to competitions.”
East Palestine parents still concerned
But some residents wonder if their children are safe in the wake of the derailment and subsequent burn off.
Administrators in two Ohio school districts last week decided to forfeit basketball games either in or near East Palestine, deciding the risk to their student athletes’ health was too great. Their decision to forfeit came after the Ohio High School Athletic Association declined to move the games to neutral sites after requests.
Some East Palestine parents say they’re putting their kids up with relatives until they can decide whether it’s feasible to move out of the town entirely.
“We’re gonna get her out,” said Brian Bush of his seven-year-old daughter, who he said has complained of headaches ever since the derailment. “I don’t know what’s going on, I didn’t ask for this.”
Misty Kalcevic would like to move her family out of East Palestine as well, but can’t bear the thought of leaving her grandparents and other extended family behind. “I need to take them all with me,” she said.
On the night of the derailment, Kalcevic said she could see flames from her front door. Without a second thought, she piled her two daughters and family dog into the car and drove to a friend’s house in Columbiana, Ohio, for the night, she said.
“When I was leaving, I thought it might be the end of East Palestine. I really did,” Kalcevic said. “I thought it was going to keep on spreading and spreading until it was gone. That’s what it looked like. It was billowing and huge and I had never seen anything like that in my life.”
Since returning home on Feb. 9, Kalcevic said her youngest daughter has experienced itchy, watery eyes, headaches and has developed a cough. “I’m trying to believe what they’re saying and also wrap my head around the fact that my daughter is getting sicker and sicker,” Kalcevic said.
Out of an abundance of caution, Kalcevic said her daughters are sleeping on couches in the family’s living room should airborne chemicals have been absorbed by their mattresses.
“I never wanted to be an adult less,” Kalcevic said. “I have to make decisions for myself and live with them but now I’m making decisions for my two girls and if these are the short-term effects we’re dealing with right now, what if they’re the tip of the iceberg and I’m subjecting them to something that is going to be crazy 20 years from now?”
Due to their size, physiology, and behavior, children are more vulnerable than adults to environmental hazards, according to the Population Reference Bureau, a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit research group. Children under the age of five in particular breathe more air, drink more water, and eat more food per unit of body weight than adults do, so they may experience higher rates of exposure to pathogens and pollutants, the research group said.
In his conversations with parents, Neifer said those who live closest to the derailment site are understandably very concerned about the health and wellbeing of their family.
“We also have many, many parents that are supportive of the thought process of kids needs some normalcy and need something else to focus on,” Neifer said. “We hear a variety of things from parents.”
Neifer, now in his fifth year as superintendent, said the school district continues to monitor the air and water quality in its buildings. “On a daily basis I am in communication with our county EMA and our county health commissioners, staying on top of all of that data and the things that are going on around us,” he said.
Bottle filling stations inside school buildings pour village water, which the Ohio EPA has declared safe to drink. Bottled water is available for students and staff as well, Neifer said.
Neifer said he’s concerned about the long term impact the derailment and its fallout will have on the community.
“As a school district in the state of Ohio, we are funded based on our property values and taxes. This is going to have a grave impact on that,” Neifer said. “Those people that can’t overcome their fears or their concerns that end up moving out will impact my numbers.
“But time will tell on that. There’s not a whole lot I can do about that right this minute. We certainly are putting that on the table in all of the conversations that we’re having.”