East Palestine residents were outraged after Norfolk Sothern’s CEO Alan Shaw was a no-show at the town hall meeting for the second time.
The railroad at the center of the February 3 chemical spill controversy has promised to ‘clean up’ the tracks as early as tomorrow morning, but residents are not happy after the CEO was missing from the meeting and representatives for the company were icy toward concerned citizens.
‘Where’s Alan,’ several yelled toward the end of the town hall meeting on Thursday evening.
The citizens were not given an answer to where the mysterious Shaw was, who has dodged the small Ohio town since the chemical disaster.
This is the second time the CEO, who makes $4.5million, has failed to show up for East Palestine residents, as he did not show up to the meeting two weeks after the derailment.
Norfolk CEO Alan Shaw was a no-show at Thursday night’s town hall meeting in East Palestine, as several citizens yelled at: ‘Where’s Alan?’
Several residents took to the stand to reiterate to those involved with the clean-up that their families are unable to return to the town due to becoming ‘violently ill,’ which many experiencing headaches and projectile vomiting.
Now, clean-up workers are falling ill, as well. Workers aiding in the cleanup of toxic materials at a train derailment site are falling ill with migraines and nausea.
The revelation came in the form of a letter from labor leaders to the White House and Ohio’s governor on Wednesday that claimed workers may have been willingly exposed to harmful chemicals at the direction of Norfolk Southern, the company that owns the derailed freighter.
Within hours, the letter led to a meeting between the union heads and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in Washington on Wednesday to discuss the February 3 derailment – and its potential repercussions.
Officials confirmed on Thursday that the meeting centered around potential improvements to rail safety, as well as the 40 workers ordered to the clean-up site in East Palestine, Ohio, last month, and their aforementioned symptoms.
A representative for the railroad, Darrell Wilson, (pictured at the stand) said they are ‘ready to start at 6am tomorrow’ to begin removing contaminated soil from underneath their tracks. It is unclear when the operation will begin.
An angered East Palestine resident walked up to the stage during the Town Hall to address the Norfolk rep
Several residents took to the stand to reiterate to those involved with the clean-up that their families are unable to return to the town due to becoming ‘violently ill,’ which many experiencing headaches and projectile vomiting since the train derailment (pictured)
Meanwhile, Norfolk Southern continues to face scrutiny over the incident. The company’s CEO, Alan Shaw, is poised to testify before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee next week, amid calls for renewed rail safety regulations.
His company has publicly promised to clean up an estimated 30,000 truckloads of toxic waste wrought by the wreck, while vowing to invest in East Palestine ‘for the long-term.’
Despite the promise to invest in the small town, residents are not happen with Shaw’s attendance record, nor his company’s plan on how to clean up the spill.
A representative for the railroad, Darrell Wilson, said they are ‘ready to start at 6am tomorrow’ to begin removing contaminated soil from underneath their tracks. It is unclear when the operation will begin.
Residents, however, are unhappy, as their farmland and residential areas are still contaminated, they claim.
‘We’re going to clean up the site, we’re going to test,’ Wilson said on Thursday evening. He also claimed that it took so long to be begin clean-up because it took some time to ‘find where [the contamination] is.’
To which residents screamed back: ‘It’s everywhere!’
The plan by Norfolk Southern is to dig up the South track first, remove the contaminated soil, and them move onto the North track, where the cars derailed. Residents, however, are concerned that if both tracks are taken care of at the same time, the South side will become contaminated again.
Residents are requesting trains stop being run on those tracks until the clean-up is finished, but Wilson seemed irritated by the suggestion.
‘You said you wanted to dig it up, so we have a plan to do that,’ Wilson said in an icy tone. ‘It’s simple engineering.’
The EPA has ordered Norfolk Southern to test for dioxins. In a press release today, the agency said: ‘[The] EPA will require Norfolk Southern to conduct a background study to compare any dioxin levels around East Palestine to dioxin levels in other areas not impacted by the train derailment.’
If dioxin levels are found to be high in the area, the EPA will order an immediate clean-up.
‘In response to concerns shared with me by residents, EPA will require Norfolk Southern to sample directly for dioxins under the agency’s oversight and direct the company to conduct immediate clean up if contaminants from the derailment are found at levels that jeopardize people’s health,’ EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan read in the press release.
Several residents also complained at the town hall meeting that they were struggling to get someone to their homes to tests for chemicals. One man in a surrounding town said his ‘skin fell off’ after touching something on his property and had to get his children out of the area.
When he described the horrific moment, Wilson didn’t have much to say, besides: ‘Seek medical attention.’
There will be another town hall next Thursday, according to the mayor (pictured)
Now, clean-up workers are falling ill, as well. Workers aiding in the cleanup of toxic materials at a train derailment site are falling ill with migraines and nausea
Several residents were quick to share how they still are unable to come back, despite the evacuation order being lifted weeks ago.
Long-term resident, Josh, who has spent his whole life in East Palestine, revealed that his family of five were crammed into one bedroom, sleeping on a single air mattress at his brother’s home because it is unsafe to return to his own home.
‘You know what we know, what happened here was catastrophic. Do you live here?’ he questioned the paneled. Josh has spent the last 15 years building up his home in the small town.
‘I love this town more than anyone else,’ he said several times.
Another woman claims people are becoming so ill by the derailment that they’re ‘driving down the road looking like they’re driving under the influence.’
She also said she becomes ‘violently ill’ after only 30 minutes inside her home.
The sky after authorities released chemicals into the air during a controlled release a few days after the derailment
The train derailed on February 3 and hasn’t been fully cleaned up a month later (pictured: the derailment on February 24)
The EPA has ordered Norfolk Southern to test for dioxins. If high enough levels are found, the rail company will be ordered to immediately clean it up
‘You’re telling us to bring our kids into our house, when U get a headache within 30 minutes…I want to throw up,’ she said.
‘I know you’re all had a symptom, you know you have,’ she told the panel. ‘You leave and it goes away…I’m struck.’
Another man said he and his wife ‘are concerned our property is a total loss,’ and despite not wanting to leave, they can’t sell it because of the derailment.
Another father revealed his child ‘threw up the second I got him home.’
‘The second I got him on the top bunk, he projectile vomited,’ the father said.
One of the representatives on the panel said they are collecting health data from the area, but it would take three weeks.
There will be another town hall next Thursday, according to the mayor.
