CLEVELAND — Leaders from several environmental organizations joined residents from East Palestine in our nation's capitol to deliver a petition to the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), calling for a ban on vinyl chloride.

It's one of the hazardous chemicals that spilled and was burned following February's train derailment.

What You Need To Know

  • Some residents are not happy with Gov. Mike DeWine's response to the East Palestine train derailment

  • Residents from East Palestine joined forces with groups in Washington, D.C. 
  • Moms Clean Airforce wants to ban vinyl chloride
 

Hilary Flint is the Vice President of Unity Council for East Palestine Train Derailment. She said the last six months have been brutal.

"It’s going from the American dream to the American nightmare," she said.

Flint said many residents still feel helpless.

"I’m less than five miles away. I can't get any assistance. I couldn’t get any testing. I had to pursue independent testing," she said.

Six months after a train derailment and controlled burn of toxic chemicals, people who live there like Flint still feel like there is no end in sight.

“We are actively being poisoned. It’s been almost six months, so what we are fighting for is immediate help. This major disaster declaration needs to be signed,” she said. “We need increased testing. We need homes remediated, not just cleaned. They need to be fully remediated, as if there was a fire or a flood.”

Flint and others were not pleased with Gov. Mike DeWine, forming a board to take things to another level, and heading to Washington D.C. to present about 14,000 signatures on a petition to get President Joe Biden to sign a disaster declaration. 

“In DeWine’s letter to the president, he said that there are currently no unmet needs and we just really need everyone in Washington, D.C. to understand that’s not true,” she said.

The group wants increased testing, and possible relocation for homeowners affected by the derailment.

Other groups from the community are in D.C. petitioning to get the EPA to ban the toxic chemical vinyl chloride, a chemical that spilled during the derailment.

Almeta Cooper is the national manager for health equity at Moms Clean Air Force at Washington, D.C. She said they are doing everything they can to get vinyl chloride banned.

“It’s a dangerous toxic substance, it’s odorless, it’s flammable, it’s colorless. I think if my high school lab teacher was around, he would say this is the trifecta of danger for human health,” she said.

Moms Clean Air Force has been fighting to ban vinyl chloride for several years, and described it as a human carcinogen that can form new toxic chemicals when burned, potentially affecting human health both long-term and short-term.

They have now collected about 27,000 signatures. 

As for Flint, she said she will keep fighting tooth and nail.

“If we have to go to the World Health Organization, we can do that. We are not going to give up until the people affected by this train derailment are taken care of,” she said.

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