ENVIRONMENT
Residents were forced to flee after a train derailment spilled toxic chemicals in their small Ohio town a year ago. Despite assurances from authorities, those who have returned remain fearful for their health
IT’S BEEN A YEAR SINCE A TRAIN CARRYING various toxic chemicals derailed in East Palestine, Ohio—yet, as a federally managed recovery operation continues, locals still sometimes smell something “rotten” in the air.
“I can’t tell anyone where I live without them having a look of sorrow,” Kasie Locke, a resident, told Newsweek. “Even though day to day we’re trying our best to go about our normal lives in the best way we all can, I will still always have an ill feeling when I think about how the rest of my family’s life is going to go.”
Residents of the small border town (population 4,700) had been getting home from work on February 3, 2023, and having their dinner when their evenings were disrupted by the sight of smoke rising from the nearby railroad. The Norfolk Southern train had derailed about a quarter of a mile from the Pennsylvania state line, and a fire was burning. Little did the locals know then that the incident would have an ongoing impact on their lives.
Of 150 cars the train was hauling, a third were affected by the derailment in some way. Twenty of those contained hazardous materials, some of which spilled into the nearby ground and waterways, while the pressure rose in others due to the heat of the fire.
Fearing a sudden explosion, emergency responders breached five cars containing vinyl chloride and diverted the chemical into a trench to be burnt off. East Palestine was evacuated, as officials warned that the controlled burn would send phosgene—used to attack trenches during World War I—and hydrogen chloride—which can cause serious irritation and tissue corrosion—into the surrounding atmosphere.
When they were allowed to return home, locals complained of symptoms associated with exposure to toxic chemicals. Those with private wells were told to drink bottled water while the water supply was tested. Others have even left the area over fears about their health—while two nearby waterways still contain pollutants.
Trying to Live a Normal Life
LOCKE AND HUSBAND NATE’S SON WAS A NEWBORN when the derailment happened. The young family had moved to East Palestine a year to the day before the incident, but found themselves staying with her mother in North Lima instead of their home.
The couple returned after six months as “it seemed the only choice we really had,” Locke said, having only rec
