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NEGLEY - East Palestine resident Rob Two-Hawks used a simple analogy to get a serious point across about the environmental and health concerns in the wake of last year's Norfolk Southern train derailment during a gathering at the East Palestine Country Club in Negley on Saturday.
"If an aquarium is making your fish sick, you don't treat the fish without treating the aquarium first," he said. "You treat the fish, but you have to fix what's making the fish sick."
Two-Hawks was part of a panel of residents who spoke at the Justice for East Palestine Residents and Workers Conference, which brought together area residents, environmental activists and labor groups to demand improvement in railway safety as well as health monitoring and health care for those impacted by the rail disaster.
The rally was organized by the Unity Council for the East Palestine Train Derailment, a grassroots movement to advocate for area residents, and environmental groups Food & Water Watch and the Breathe Collaborative, brought buses of support from Pennsylvania and as far away as Iowa.
The newly-formed Justice for East Palestine Residents and Workers Coalition's main objective is to demand a presidential emergency declaration for East Palestine and the surrounding communities impacted by the derailment and the enactment of the Stafford Act, a law that mobilizes federal resources to aid state and local governments in disaster relief.
Since the derailment, residents have reported an array of medical symptoms - persistent nosebleeds, headaches, rashes, eye irritation, respiratory and digestive difficulties, cognitive issues, seizure-like episodes and rectal bleeding. They say these are a direct result of the derailment and chemical release and have been advocating for more federal support.
Six months after the disaster, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine made a formal request to President Joe Biden for a major presidential disaster declaration relating to the derailment.
The Biden administration issued an executive order on Sept. 20 that instructed the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to designate a federal disaster recovery coordinator to oversee the long-term recovery efforts. Jim McPherson, an emergency management specialist and experienced disaster recovery coordinator, was tabbed to conduct a comprehensive assessment of any "unmet needs" that are not addressed by Norfolk Southern and would qualify for federal assistance. During his first trip to the area in February, Biden also announced six National Institute of Health (NIH) grants to help study the potential epidemiological and environmental damage of the derailment.
To date, the disaster declaration has not been made and evidence gathered during McPherson's assessment has not been released.
While the order by Biden and the NIH studies are a move in the right direction, residents and the newly formed coalition say the federal government can do more, noting that a disaster declaration would open up a wealth of resources and support for those who are still living in turmoil and uncertainty a year after the derailment.
The coalition maintains that, aside from the 1.1 million pounds of vinyl chloride that was vented and burned from five tank cars, an event the National Transportation Safety Board called "unnecessary" earlier this month, a cocktail of chemicals like butyl acrylate and ethyl acrylate spilled during the derailment has had detrimental impacts on public health and the environment.
Residents have also been calling for the enactment of Social Security Act 1881a which promises free Medicare to environmental-hazard victims.
Chris Albright is an East Palestine resident that developed congestive heart failure following the derailment and said health care for East Palestine and surrounding communities is paramount. A gas pipeline worker and a member of LIUNA 1058, Albright said the health ailments have prevented him from working.
"I am unable to provide for (my) family and I have three girls. I lost my health benefits," he said. "I can't afford my medications because of something that Norfolk Southern could have and should have been prevented."
Chistina Siceloff, a Darlington, Pa., resident living six miles from the derailment site, said she has experienced a long list of health symptoms since the rail disaster and has spent countless hours looking for answers through doctor appointments and phone calls to health care providers. She also pointed out that before the derailment, she had not sought medical care since 2016, and that her symptoms are shared with other residents in Darlington.
"We need to have medical monitoring for ourselves, our children and at least their children," Siceloff said. "Our doctors still don't know what to tell us. A year later, we still don't know what was or what still remains in our environment or in our homes."
Aside from medical care, health coverage and health monitoring, the coalition is also demanding the rail industry implement changes to make sure another community does not suffer the same fate as East Palestine. They are also calling for an immediate passage of The Railway Safety Act that would mandate, among other things, hotbox detectors every 10 miles of track, advance notice to local officials of trains carrying hazardous cargo and a minimum two-person crew on every train.
The legislation was introduced by U.S. Senators J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, on March 1, 2023, but the bill has yet to make it to the Senate floor. The coalition said Norfolk Southern and all Class 1 railroads should not only stop opposing the bill but support it.
Albright said serious change and true recovery will only come with the help of many, noting it will take the strength of numbers to force the railroads and the government agencies into action.
"It was a catastrophe that happened and changed our lives, and we are never going to get back to normal," he said. "We didn't want that train to derail. We didn't ask for the train derailment, and we can't do anything about it without the help of everybody in this room and everybody in this country. It's going to take all of us to get past this and let people know what happened here and what is still happening."