This story was originally published byGrist.
It would be beautiful if it werent so toxic and deadly.
By DeHavens estimate, he spends as many as 15 hours a week wading through the waterways.
A large plume of smoke rises over East Palestine, Ohio, after a controlled detonation of a portion of a derailed Norfolk Southern train on Feb. 6, 2023. Three days earlier, about 50 cars, including 10 carrying hazardous materials, derailed in a fiery crash.Photo: Gene J. Puskar (AP)
Dead fish littered the bottom of the creek.
he said to me later, over the phone.
Its because we never get any straight answers from the EPA.
Olivia Holley, 22, and Taylor Gulish, 22, collect water samples from Leslie Run creek on February 25, 2023 in East Palestine, Ohio.Photo: Michael Swensen (Getty Images)
Tsai got the results back from Eurofins in the middle of September.
Its no secret that theres still oil in the creeks.
First of all, it’s possible for you to see it.
The agency ordered Norfolk Southern to conduct additional analysis and cleanup of creek sediment.
Four months after the disaster.
Indoor air quality is both a complicated and critical factor in post-disaster remediation.
Almost a year has passed since the derailment and vent-and-burn.
(Its not really the stuff of polite conversation, said one business owner in town.)
So whom do you trust?
And the very nature of the pollution generated by the derailment makes those personal experiences highly variable.
Whether you suffered or not, it seemed, was just a matter of chance.
It was the first time she had set foot in it.
The creek itself rises quickly with a heavy rain, where it can flood her basement.
Ferguson showed me wet patches on the concrete floor around the drain filter that tops the old pipe.
In the days after the derailment, Ferguson felt dizzy and nauseous whenever she set foot in her house.
Her eyes stung and her vision got worse.
She couldnt keep her balance walking from one end of her living room to another.
I have no more answers now than I did that night.
Ferguson, along with her parents, daughter, and husband, evacuated that weekend.
You cant get chemicals out of a sandstone foundation.
In the vernacular of toxicology, this is whats called a pathway to exposure.
The company has responded to these accusations in theFAQ sectionof their website.)
The next day, she said, Norfolk Southern offered to pay to move her into another home.
So I could have kept quiet, took my little check, and left, she said.
But thats not the kind of people that we are, my husband or I.
That night was the first town hall meeting in East Palestine, at the high school auditorium.
EPA said, Everythings fine.
Mayor said, Everythings fine.
I have a video of it.
The mayor never called me back.
It was well known that these devices should not be used how they were applied.
And they never got follow-up indoor air testing, either.
She furnished their new home with finds culled from yard sales and thrift stores.
She started to organize, forming a group of concerned citizens under the name Unity Council.
A lot of those demands we made in that March-April time period.
Were still making the same demands.
In August, follow-up testing confirmed that the same chemical was still present in another home near Flints.
Continued indoor air testing is the most prevalent demand that concerned residents continue to make of the EPA.
Thats where they learned about the criteria for Superfund site designations.
I believe theyre just trying to avoid that economic burden.
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Now, the EPA is eyeing regulation.
But the EPA has not offered or performed indoor testing in homes since April of 2023.
In that case, then I could see some research dollars going towards evaluating that.
Misti Allison, for one, is not satisfied by those explanations.
[Durno] was very complimentary of the community-based assessment project, she said.
Additionally, 20 residents of East Palestine volunteered to provide Haynes with samples of blood and urine.
Absolutely, said Haynes.
If they were anywhere near that derailment, there was an exposure.
As of early December, the EPA wasstill performing cleanupin culverts across East Palestine.
We are truly canaries in the coal mine.
Not everyone in town is plagued by the same level of concern.
They didnt find anything, and she never felt sick.
Norfolk Southern hasnt left.
Theyre still cleaning up.
EPA is still here.
If they had left and it was still a mess, Id be right there bitching with everybody else.
But theyre doing a ton for this town.
A $25 million revitalization of the East Palestine City Park, courtesy of the railroad.
College scholarships for East Palestine high school students.
More than $3 million to outfit the towns fire department with brand-new gear.
(At least, she thinks it was a lamb.
It definitely belonged to a mammal.)
A lot of us have been labeled tear down the town, said Ferguson.
Ive told my story.
Im not going to fight and tell anyone, Youre in denial.
Now, if youre not experiencing [health effects], I say youre totally blessed.
Ten to 15 years from now, I hope you are as blessed as you are now.
I dont discredit them.
East Palestine is not gonna fight this alone, she said.
And, you know, its the same scenario over and over and over.
Its like a mass shooting, Well, they dont happen here.
They happen somewhere else.
But you know, they happen!
Members of Unity Council are now connecting with communities concerned for some kind of environmental disaster coming their way.
He told Gamble what was happening to his community was criminal.
Its just, I didnt have anything to say.
But once this started, I would talk to anybody that would listen.
This article originally appeared inGristathttps://grist.org/accountability/is-east-palestine-safe-depends-who-you-ask/.
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