the Ohio village upended by a freight train derailment
State officials insisted yet again that testing shows the air is safe to breathe around East Palestine, near the Pennsylvania state line. They promised air and water monitoring would continue. “They just danced around the questions a lot," said Danielle Deal, who lives a few miles from the derailment site. “Norfolk needed to be here.”
The people living in and around East Palestine said they want assistance figuring out how to get the financial help the railroad has offered to hundreds of families who evacuated. Beyond that, they want to know whether the railroad will be held responsible. The state's Environmental Protection Agency said the latest tests show five wells supplying the village's drinking water are free from contaminants, but recommends testing private water wells that are closer to the surface.
Norfolk Southern announced Tuesday that it is creating a $1 million fund to help the community of some 4,700 people while continuing remediation work, including removing spilled contaminants from the ground and streams and monitoring air quality.