Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
February 23, 2023
Should the residents of East Palestine, Ohio trust their government - state or federal? This question most certainly isn’t new, as it currently pertains to government response, or lack thereof, to the Norfolk Southern train derailment on Friday, February 3 near the East Ohio-West Pennsylvania border.
During an August 12, 1986 press conference President Ronald Reagan said, “the nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.’” No truer are those words today than ever before.
While the remnants of a mushroom-cloud plume of smoke hovered over the residents and their homes in East Palestine, Michael Regan Environmental Protection Agency administrator, as well as Ohio Governor Mike DeWine (R) attempted to assuage the fears of the village of 4,761 (as per the 2020 census) that the air is safe to breathe and the water safe to drink. But skeptical residents believe quite the contrary as evidenced by the spate of headaches, nausea, rashes, people coughing/spitting up blood, lingering odors from chemicals, oil-like slicks on ponds and creeks, dead fish and animals.
Hundreds of concerned and angry residents packed the gymnasium at East Palestine High School on Wednesday, February 15 demanding answers to questions, as well as demanding to know where allegedly important people were to answer those questions. They left with more questions than answers.
“I just want answers for the future,” said longtime resident Luke Glavan. “I played football right here. Is it going to be another ghost town, or what? What have we got to look forward to?” continued Glavan, asking what just about everybody was thinking.
“We have to find some answers. There has to be answers somewhere,” said East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway. “I started working with our congressional representatives and some senators to try and hopefully get some answers. I’m just [at a] loss for words. I don’t have the answers and I’m trying to get them,” continued a clearly beleaguered Conaway, really through no fault of his own.
Frustrated residents kept hearing all is well from the EPA administrator. This is reminiscent of the scene in Animal House where Kevin Bacon’s character, clad in his ROTC uniform, screeching in a high-pitched voice, “remain calm, all is well!” as the homecoming parade was under siege.
The Norfolk Southern train stretched 1.9 miles, contained 158 rail cars, of which 38 cars derailed, and 11 contained hazardous materials, such as benzene and butyl acrylates, both flammable liquids. One of the derailed cars carried the butyl acrylates, all of which was lost. The crux of this disaster came from five derailed cars of vinyl chloride - an extremely flammable, colorless, and toxic gas, as well as hydrogen chloride. One must wonder why frozen vegetables and wheat were included with the flammable, toxic cargo. The crew conducted a “controlled release” of these materials in an effort to avoid an explosion. The resulting chemical fire did not do the residents of the Village of East Palestine any favors either. According to the American Chemistry Council, nearly a billion tons of hazardous materials are shipped by rail each year.
Vinyl chloride is a compound known about for at least 100 years. Ever since the mid 1970s people have contracted a rare form of liver cancer called hepatic angiosarcoma, after years and years of exposure, according to Dr. Kelly Johnson-Arbor, a medical toxicology physician. Even short term exposure to vinyl chloride can be dangerous, she noted. Symptoms, according to the CDC include burning and irritation of the skin, shortness of breath, dizziness and drowsiness, as well as headaches and vomiting. Residents should look out for liver damage and cancer.
Yet, Johnson-Arbor reported that vinyl chloride, while a very volatile chemical, will vaporize and evaporate into the atmosphere within days. After about a week or so, the chemical is gone from the air. It can also vaporize from the water into the air, but that doesn’t happen right away, she said, adding people may see a “chemical sheen on the water.” One of the biggest problems with vinyl chloride is its ability to seep “into the soil and affect the groundwater and so that’s what we need to worry about now. We need to test the water and make sure that’s safe and so people who have wells can continue to bathe and drink the water without having fear of being poisoned,” said Johnson-Arbor.
East Palestine resident Chelsea Simpson said it’s important to “make sure we are taken care of. There’s gonna be a lot of families displaced from this. I don’t feel comfortable going back. That has to be in our soil. In a few years from now, that could come up in our water. How is he [Biden] going to help the people who do not feel comfortable or safe because of all the unknowns in the future,” asked Simpson.
“We need help. We do. We need President Biden,” said East Palestine resident Kristina Ferguson. “People are getting sick. We should not have been let back into town until all this was done,” added Ferguson.
So where has Joe Biden been? The residents of East Palestine have heard nothing but crickets from the White House and the Biden administration. During his State of the Union address on February 7, Biden referenced the forgotten men and women of the United States, yet failed to utter a single syllable about the distraught residents of East Palestine.
The very next day, Vice President Kamala Harris gave a speech on environmental issues, and again, not a word about East Palestine or Norfolk Southern. A week later, on February 15, Biden spoke about rail, but still, no mention of the disaster in East Palestine. And, adding insult to injury, Biden spent President’s Day half a world away, kissing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s tuchus and handing him another $500 million dollars while America’s infrastructure continues to crumble beneath our bicycles, automobiles, trucks, and trains.
And where was Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg? In addition to telling a reporter he was “taking some personal time,” both he and Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw were no-shows at the high school on February 15. They both claimed to fear for their personal safety. Ever hear of Zoom, you guys? Buttigieg surrendered an incredible opportunity to be the face of empathy and compassion of the administration simply by showing up and giving a damn. He thinks he wants to be president one day? He will forever be reminded of this, and his many other failures while Transportation Secretary. This should not be a partisan issue, but because this is a town not fitting Buttigieg’s narrative, he has been non-responsive. The Village of East Palestine is a middle class community of modest financial means with a median household income of $44,498 as of 2021. Nestled 20 miles south of Youngsgtown, Ohio and 40 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, East Palestine’s population is 89 percent white. Twenty days after this disaster occurred, Buttigieg, either under public pressure or that former President Donald Trump announced his own visit, will finally make a cameo appearance in East Palestine. He visited East Palestine on Thursday, February 23 20 days after the derailment. Perhaps if this derailment took place in East St. Louis, Illinois, Biden and Buttigieg would have had boots on the ground and brought FEMA with them.
Trump visited East Palestine on February 22 bringing palettes of water and cleaning supplies. He also bought dinner for a group of firefighters and clean up crews. “Somebody has to do something for those people, I said. When I announced that I was coming, they [Biden administration] changed their tune. It was an amazing phenomena,” said Trump from East Palestine.
According to the DeWine administration, “FEMA continues to tell Governor DeWine that Ohio is not eligible for assistance at this time.” On February 17 DeWine himself said “Although FEMA is synonymous with disaster support, most typically involved in disasters where there is tremendous home or property damage - tornadoes, flooding, hurricanes - that’s why we do not expect that FEMA will come to East Palestine.” FEMA or no FEMA, there are other jurisdictions that have doubts. Cincinnati is closing its Ohio River intake as a precaution - about 300 miles from East Palestine. The Kentucky Water District is also closing its Ohio River intake.
The impact to the air, water, and soil for the long term are, at present, indeterminable. And that is more than just a bit worrisome. Ohio freshman Senator J.D. Vance (R) wants Norfolk Southern to pay, but he also wants his constituents to be able to live freely and safely in their town. “If the EPA administrator wants to stand here and tell people the tap water is safe, by all means they should be willing to drink it,” said a skeptical Vance. “People say that the air is clean. I would like to believe that that is true. I have also been here for almost three hours and it doesn’t smell great to me. I can’t imagine being a member of this community seeing dead fish, dead birds, dead crawdads in the community where you live; and children play in that [Leslie Run] creek. I took a stick and stuck it in the bed of the creek and pulled it along, and chemicals bubbled out of the ground,” said Vance, adding that he would not drink the water.
Norfolk Southern has offered $1,000 payments to any individual in East Palestine who wanted one, and has doled out more than $2.2 million for that and other expenses, thus far - clearly an admission of guilt. It’s inconceivable to consider anyone would either want to stay in the village or move there. A class action lawsuit is already underway, but instead of making lawyers rich, here’s a solution to cut out the middleman. Norfolk Southern should buy any house, home, farm, or property any East Palestine resident wishes to sell. Norfolk Southern should pay fair market value, from before the derailment, plus 20 percent, as well as moving expenses. Norfolk Southern should also pay lodging expenses in the interim for those who do not wish to stay in their homes while researching a new place to live. Granted, it is not easy to uproot a family - some living there for generations, some with children in the midst of their school year, as well as jobs not easily transferable.
Over the last day or two Governor DeWine said tests show “the municipal water system in East Palestine is free from contaminants from the wreck, but that the EPA will test the water every week out of an abundance of caution. The EPA said the air quality has been tested in some 560 homes and they also show that they are free of contaminants from the wreck.”
The EPA said…, the government said…, Buttigieg said…, DeWine said…. Coming full circle, should the residents of East Palestine trust their government? To once again quote President Ronald Reagan, with perhaps his three most famous words, “TRUST BUT VERIFY.” The residents can hear what the government is telling them, but they should verify with independent tests conducted by neither Norfolk Southern nor the government - federal or state, but paid for by Norfolk Southern. The residents of East Palestine deserve much more than what the government is giving to millions of illegals who continue to invade the United States of America at will.
Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.
