East Palestine’s Unfinished Business: A Town Still Fighting for Truth and Health

In this episode of Exposure, we unpack the tense and revealing town hall meeting that unfolded in East Palestine more than two years after the Norfolk Southern train derailment and subsequent chemical burn. With EPA officials, village leadership, and local residents in the room, the conversation swung between technical updates, government assurances, and raw community outrage. What emerged wasn’t just a summary of cleanup efforts—it was a portrait of a town still deeply fractured, still searching for answers, and still demanding accountability.

Cleanup Narrative: Progress or Public Relations?

EPA representatives opened the session with a polished overview: excavation completed, thousands of samples analyzed, long-term monitoring underway. Over 220,000 tons of contaminated soil had been removed, dozens of additional test sites evaluated, and the infamous vinyl chloride spills ostensibly contained. New sentinel wells are in place to guard the municipal water supply, and a consent decree—pending court approval—promises ten years of groundwater and stream monitoring plus a $300 million watershed remediation plan.

But behind the presentation stood a more complicated reality.

Officials acknowledged that contaminants remain. Streambeds continue to show signs of oil sheens. Community air monitoring is still active, but Norfolk Southern is pushing to end it. A strange odor—traced to spilled semolina flour—has returned with the spring heat. One EPA official even admitted that some areas may have been cleaned beyond what Norfolk Southern was strictly responsible for because it was too difficult to distinguish derailment contaminants from historical pollution.

“Did we sample every square inch? No,” one EPA hydrogeologist confessed. “But we did enough to feel confident.”

A Community Unconvinced

Residents weren’t buying it. Frustration crackled through the meeting as locals lined up to ask hard questions—and vent years of accumulated distrust.

One resident pointed out that they’re still finding sheen in the creeks. Another challenged the logic of “reassessments” without active remediation, asking: “If you're just reassessing over and over again, aren't you just letting contaminants drift downstream to someone else's backyard?”

Perhaps the sharpest moment came when a mother shared how her family—living yards from a tanker car—was never contacted, never tested, never helped. Her dog died, her children are still sick, and she never once had a knock on the door.

And then there was the powder.

EPA admitted they had missed semolina flour buried beneath gravel, only discovering it again due to its sour odor in warm spring air. “If you missed something you can see and smell,” one resident asked, “how can we trust you didn’t miss the things you can’t?”

Institutional Loyalty vs. Public Health

Another fault line: Norfolk Southern’s continued control over testing. EPA insists they rigorously review all reports submitted by the company’s contractors, but residents point out the glaring conflict of interest. “You’re trusting the same people who caused the disaster,” said one. “And you’re letting them tell you everything’s fine.”

It wasn’t just the EPA under fire.

East Palestine’s mayor was grilled about why the village never disclosed a vapor intrusion problem in its own municipal building—an issue that mirrored what residents were experiencing in their homes. When pressed on the failure to communicate, the mayor deflected responsibility onto others, eventually snapping, “We all have jobs to go to,” in response to a resident who had sacrificed time with her children to advocate for transparency.

The Human Toll Still Mounts

Perhaps most heartbreaking was the testimony from residents who feel physically, emotionally, and medically abandoned.

“I fall asleep behind the wheel now,” said one woman, her voice breaking. “My dog died. I still have rashes. Nobody came to my house—not once. We were supposed to be the first ones evacuated.”

Another resident revealed she had been told by an environmental scientist early on that her town would be “unlivable in three years.” Her question to officials now: “Do you still believe that?”

The EPA’s response? A ten-year plan and continued data review.

But for many, that wasn’t good enough.

When Will People Matter More Than Metrics?

One resident summed it up bluntly: “You say the data doesn’t show a problem, but people are sick. Seventeen people called me in two days.”

It’s a haunting reminder of the chasm between institutional science and lived experience. A reminder that technical remediation doesn’t automatically equal public safety. A reminder that, in East Palestine, there are still too many unanswered questions—and too few people willing to claim responsibility.

As one resident shouted near the end of the meeting, “We don't need more graphs. We need someone to care.”

Conclusion

This episode of Exposure underscores the hard truth that disaster doesn’t end when the headlines fade. For East Palestine, the derailment was only the beginning. The fight for transparency, accountability, and health justice is far from over. The question now is not whether the chemicals have been removed—but whether trust, health, and dignity can ever be restored.

To learn more about the ongoing work in East Palestine and how you can support the people still living with the consequences, visit Ohio Valley Allies.

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