EAST PALESTINE, Ohio (AP) — Residents of the Ohio village upended by a freight train derailment packed a school gym on Wednesday to seek answers about whether they were safe from toxic chemicals that spilled or were burned off.
Hundreds of worried people gathered to hear state officials tell them — as they did earlier in the day — that testing so far has shown local air is safe to breathe and to promise that safety testing of the air and water would continue.
But residents had many questions over health hazards and they demanded more transparency from the railroad operator, Norfolk Southern, which did not attend the gathering, citing safety concerns for its staff.
“They just danced around the questions a lot," said Danielle Deal, who lives about three miles from the derailment site. “Norfolk needed to be here.”
In a statement, Norfolk Southern said it was not attending Wednesday's open house gathering with local, state and federal officials because of a “growing physical threat to our employees and members of the community around this event."
Deal called that a “copout" and noted the seriousness of the incident.
Deal and her two children left home to stay with her mother, 13 miles away “and we could still see the mushroom cloud, plain as day,” she said.
Wednesday's meeting came amid continuing concerns about the huge plumes of smoke, persisting odors, questions over potential threats to pets and wild animals, any potential impact on drinking water and what was happening with cleanup.
Even as school resumed and trains were rolling again, people were worried.
“Why are they being hush-hush?" Kathy Dyke said of the railroad. “They’re not out here supporting, they’re not out here answering questions. For three days we didn’t even know what was on the train."
“I have three grandbabies,” she said. “Are they going to grow up here in five years and have cancer? So those are all factors that play on my mind.”
In and around East Palestine, near the Pennsylvania state line, residents said they wanted assistance navigating the financial help the railroad offered hundreds of families who evacuated, and they want to know whether it will be held responsible for what happened.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost advised Norfolk Southern on Wednesday that his office is considering legal action against the rail operator.
“The pollution, which continues to contaminate the area around East Palestine, created a nuisance, damage to natural resources and caused environmental harm,” Yost said in a letter to the company.