‘Are My Kids Safe?’: Norfolk Southern Skips Town Hall as Residents Demand Answers on Health Impacts of Toxic Disaster, by Jake Johnson

Residents of East Palestine, Ohio, gathered Wednesday demanding answers on the potential health impacts of a massive train derailment and chemical spill that put their small village in the national spotlight.

By Jake Johnson, Common Dreams, Children’s Health Defense, Feb. 16, 2023

Anxious and angry residents of East Palestine, Ohio, gathered for a town hall Wednesday night hoping to get answers about the potential health impacts of a massive train derailment and chemical spill that put their small village in the national spotlight.

But those who wanted to hear directly from the company at the center of the toxic disaster — Norfolk Southern — pulled out of the event hours before it began, expressing concerns about “the growing physical threat to our employees and members of the community… stemming from the increasing likelihood of the participation of outside parties.”

News that company officials would be a no-show infuriated East Palestine residents who are worried about the health and safety of their families in the wake of the train crash — and the subsequent release of hazardous chemicals such as the carcinogen vinyl chloride into the atmosphere and waterways. …

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