Welcome back to Movement Mondays in which we discuss all things climate and focus on acting in solidarity with frontline communities. Today’s post isn’t directly climate-related as in drought or flooding, but is connected to public health and the environment. On February 3, 2023, a Norfolk Southern** train carrying liquid vinyl chloride derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. Twenty cars, […], toppled off the tracks and burst into flames. Three days later, railroad officials decided to burn off the remnants in the derailed cars, sending a giant black cloud plume over the village and region.

A black plume rises over East Palestine, Ohio, as a result of a controlled detonation of a portion of the derailed Norfolk Southern trains, Feb. 6, 2023.  // Gene J. Puskar/AP, FILE

Something that I lost track of in following this story is that the black particulate cloud from the burn not only affected people in Ohio, but also communities in Pennsylvania. As a result of last year’s catastrophe, the inhabitants of East Palestine (and beyond) have faced a myriad of mysterious health ailments. Biden didn’t show up there until last month, more than a year since the train derailment. The people of East Palestine hoped he’d finally make a Presidential Disaster Declaration so, among other things, there’d finally be testing of all homes, the soil, and creeks. As resident-turned-activist Jamie Wallace points out in this video interview, the creeks might look okay on the surface but the chemicals have soaked into the sediment. When that sediment is disturbed, there is a “chemical tornado.”

She and the rest of Unity Council for EP Train Derailment, the group formed in the aftermath of the disaster, are calling  for long-term health monitoring for East Palestine residents and access to a toxicologist. At this time, they do not have access to a toxicologist which is SO wrong when considering they’ve been exposed to a known human carcinogen. (An aside: if you’re considering new flooring for your home, PLEASE don’t buy vinyl flooring –that stuff that looks like hardwood–because it’s highly toxic for all from workers, to transport, to home. A good alternative–and one we’ve used in multiple applications–is Marmoleum flooring. We’ve found some good deals online.)

In advance of Biden’s long-overdue visit to East Palestine, a letter outlining recommendations for federal help on this catastrophe was sent to Biden and Michael Regan of the EPA. The following includes their recommendations (full letter HERE):

“. . . we strongly recommend that the federal government issue a “major disaster declaration” and work with Senators J.D. Vance, Sherrod Brown, Bob Casey, John Fetterman, and members of Congress to do the following:
1. Provide immediate and long-term healthcare for the community of East Palestine, in nearby Ohio and Pennsylvania, and other states and communities that have been exposed to the toxic chemical mixture resulting from the derailment, chemical spill, and intentional burn;
2. Set up a long-term medical monitoring program to follow these communities and any
individuals who were in the area over time for a minimum of 20 years;
3. Provide all financial resources for relocation that make it possible for anyone living or who lived in the area who feels they were impacted by hazardous exposure from the train derailment and burn who want to leave the area to do so and move into equivalent housing, and develop a program to replace all household items that may have been contaminated;
4. Conduct comprehensive indoor air testing for anyone in the area who feels they have been exposed or have endured latent exposure due to contaminated waterways, especially homes, businesses, and other buildings near Sulphur Run where vapor intrusion may be occurring;
5. Conduct long-term, robust assessments for hazardous chemicals that may have contaminated the drinking water, both for municipalities and especially for people who rely on well water in East Palestine and nearby communities and anyone who feels their drinking water may have been impacted by the derailment and subsequent release and burn of chemicals; and
6. Significantly expand sampling for dioxins and furans in residential soil, indoor dust, fish, farm animals, wildlife, and other relevant environmental media in East Palestine and nearby communities that may have been impacted.

In addition, we were pleased to see that EPA recently announced that it was beginning a process under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to evaluate vinyl chloride. Such a process should end with a ban on vinyl chloride.

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My ask today is to WRITE ONE EMAIL on behalf of the people of East Palestine and nearby communities: You can use the above recommendations, you can demand Biden issue a Disaster Declaration, you can plead for a ban on vinyl chloride, and/or you can just share your outrage that citizens of this country have been left on their own as another corporation gets away with destroying public health and the environment.  What’s important is letting our government know that we are not okay with fellow citizens being poisoned and then left to deal with the devastating aftermath.

President Biden : comments@whitehouse.gov
EPA Administrator, Michael Regan: Regan.Michael@epa.gov

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**You may or may not be surprised to learn that Norfolk Southern’s CEO received a 37% raise last year. This past weekend, Norfolk Southern trains had a collision involving three trains (!)  and derailment of two of those trains in Pennsylvania, spilling plastic pellets and diesel into the waterways.

3.7.24 UPDATE: People wondered in the comments here why Norfolk Southern would burn the vinyl chloride. Watch this eye-opening testimony from a National Transportation Safety Board rep who says NS was told by the vinyl chloride manufacturer it was NOT necessary to burn. It appears NS chose to poison East Palestine chose and surrounding communities in order to immediately resume moving trains through that area.

Thank you for reading and taking action on behalf of East Palestine and the surrounding communities. Solidarity! ✊🏽