February 3, 2023, a Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. The train traveled approximately 42 miles on fire before derailing. Three 911 calls were made about the train being on fire. The first call came in from Sebring, Ohio. All callers were informed that there was no way to contact anyone about the fire. Eventually the train derailed & a very large fire ensued. After the initial fire was extinguished five rail cars containing chemicals began spiking high pressure readings. Fearing the tanks would explode, a decision to release & burn the chemicals was made. February 6, 2023, the release & burn created a large black cloud.
My house is a half a block from the tracks where the train passed on fire & 6.8 miles from the derailment site.
Today, the town is divided. Those who have gotten sick have been diagnosed mostly with chemical pneumonia or bronchitis. Finding help from doctors has been difficult. Most have had to go the ER or to the clinic set up by the county health department in East Palestine. Most renters have left & abandoned all their belongings. The landlords are angry about having the mess left in their hands while fund raising provided replacement for those who left their things behind Norfolk Southern has done a huge public relations campaign here. Several free parties have been held in the contaminated park. The parties have free food, bands & swimming passes. Norfolk Southern has also refinished a historic train depot & has donated it to the town. The railroad has set up an office in town to help.
In addition, there have been 4 arrests made for fraud. Two of those charged were for fake fundraising by folks not from here. The other two were locals who were charged with filing false claims.
A class action lawsuit was settled for $600 million. Attorneys, including mine, have all recommended that we fill out the claim forms we received in the mail. We have also been informed that engineers & chemists believe it will take about 10 years for chemicals to settle into the soil & wells. The EPA will not be testing in my area for 10 years based on the professional time estimate. Others who have tested their wells & have found new contamination when compared with previous testing contacted lawyers, the government, or the railroad & were told that a point of when the contamination occurred cannot be proven. People who had blood tests before & after the derailment & had differences were told they could not prove anything. As far as future sickness goes no one knows anything. We have been told to wait & see. Then, & only then, we will need clusters of the same illnesses &/or specific cancers for any future personal injury claims.
In my case, it's estimated that our household will receive $30,000 (divided by 4). And while everyone thinks this is a great deal, I disagree 100%. I have been paying for my own independent lab testing. I purchase soil & water test kits & do the testing myself. I fill the vessels the testing company provides & send samples back through the post office. It costs me about $1700 to do the testing. Twenty years of testing will cost about $30,000. I have tested in 2023 & 2024. I tested the well water where it enters the house & before our water conditioning system. Not all my 2024 tests are completed, however, the first water tests have resulted in 4 health warnings.
arsenic 2023 [.00028] 2024 [.00306]
lead 2023 [.000796] 2024 [.00507]
manganese 2023 [.139] 2024 [.222]
iron 2023 [NOT DETECTED] 2024 [5.99]
In 1987, we purchased & moved into our home. We have always had our water tested & a water conditioner installed. We have never had an iron problem but now our sinks, toilets & tub have rust stains. I believe that will devalue our property. Our water was always so great that my grandmother would fill gallon jugs to take home with her. We do not have lead pipes.
Unfortunately, I have spent my day on the phone. We have already sent in our claim form per our attorney's instruction (we were also given same legal advice as previously mentioned). The first call was to my current water conditioner company. The company is very concerned about the results thus far & is sending a water specialist Wednesday to go over the results & find a possible fix. Although that fix will most likely be an entirely new, different & probably more expensive system. The second call was to another attorney. I had asked our attorney what to do if our 2024 set of water tests came back with problems what to do? We were told there had to be a cluster to prove anything. The other firm wouldn't talk to me because of other attorney representation (I'm not a lawyer but can't I fire the other & switch?). But they did tell me to call the settlement attorneys to request an meeting with one of their lead attorneys to have our claim set aside for special circumstances. Third call then went to the settlement attorneys. It's a 20 minute wait for someone to be super rude & demand I bring the documentation, including the claim form, that I already sent. So the fourth call went to my original attorney who instructed I print out the new test results & mail them in as an addendum. But when I told her it took me 5 hours to print out last year's she instructed me to forward to her & her office will take care of it. I must note that my attorney has not charged me one penny so far & @ our face to face meeting last month, we were told they were not charging anyone & considering it community service. My fifth & final call, went to the county health department where I was transferred to voice mail.
This spring, while preparing for a track meet, I volunteer for track, football & soccer concessions, I was cleaning the outside counter. The counter was covered in a yellow powder. I asked maintenance about & was told it was pollen. But I cannot stop questioning how there was so much pollen when we have artificial turf & why haven’t I seen that before?
Additionally, I have written all my legislators & included the same test results I previously included here. Thus far, I have received one response that said the information I provided was concerning, has been earmarked for future legislation & will be forwarded to a possible future study currently being considered with Case Western.
The bottom line here is that a chemical nuclear bomb was dropped on us; but since no one can prove anything, everything is fine here, nothing to see, take the money offered, shut up & be happy. Being "rail roaded" wasn't left behind in the history books!
P.S. I do not live in city limits. I do not know the mayor nor did I watch him @ the R convention.
