After The Wreck

Residents of the Ohio village, upended by a freight train derailment, packed a school gym to seek answers about whether they were safe from toxic chemicals that spilled or were burned off. Hundreds of worried people gathered in East Palestine, near the Pennsylvania state line, to hear state officials insist yet again that testing shows local air is safe to breathe so far…and promise that air and water monitoring would continue. With the community in the national spotlight, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, Michael Regan is slated to visit…to assess the ongoing response and to hear from impacted residents. Nearly two weeks after the derailment, people in the area have many concerns about the huge plumes of smoke they saw, persisting odors, risks to pets and wild animals, potential effects on drinking water and what’s happening with the cleanup.