EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — As President Joe Biden is set to visit the town of East Palestine, the site of last year’s Norfolk Southern train derailment that spilled hazardous chemicals, a letter signed by 200 people is recommending action by the federal government.
The letter is signed by East Palestine residents, train derailment council board members, community organizers, nonprofit directors and more. It is addressed to the president as well as the EPA Administrator Michael Regan.
“As you prepare to visit East Palestine this week, we would like to offer recommendations on steps that your administration can and must take to continue to provide critical assistance to the people of East Palestine and nearby communities,” the letter reads.
The letter recounts the events that led to the burning of the chemical vinyl chloride and the adverse health effects residents had suffered since, which the letter alleges “continue to plague many of the residents of this rural area.”
It compares the situation of those who were exposed to toxic substances in the 9/11 terrorist attacks and burn pit smoke in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“In both of these situations, the federal government recognized that critical scientific information linking exposures and health outcomes was impossible to assess, missing, or incomplete,” the letter reads. “To address the needs of the victims/survivors, the federal government decided to use a presumptive approach that exposures were likely to be the cause of the health problems suffered by these people.”
The letter is urging the federal government to act similarly in this instance to those in East Palestine who were exposed to the chemicals following the derailment.
Those who signed the letter wish for government to enact a Major Disaster Declaration.
They recommend the following actions:
- Provide immediate and long-term health care
- Set up a long-term medical monitoring program
- Provide all financial resources for relocation
- Conduct comprehensive indoor air testing
- Conduct long-term, robust assessments for hazardous chemicals that may have contaminated
- the drinking water
- Significantly expand sampling for dioxins and furans
The letter also recommends a ban on vinyl chloride, following an evaluation after the EPA’s Toxic Substances Control Act.
“As you prepare to visit East Palestine this week, now is the time for you to adopt and aggressively put these common-sense recommendations into practice,” the letter reads. “Thank you for your consideration of this urgent public health and environmental justice matter.”
