As 2023 drew to a close, the Environmental Protection Agency sent out a news release highlighting actions it had taken throughout the year that “showcase unprecedented efforts to protect human health and the environment.”
On the list of accomplishments was the agency’s response to the chemical disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, that stemmed from a fiery derailment of a Norfolk Southern train on Feb. 3.
But one year after the catastrophe, many residents remain frustrated with the lack of federal response to the disaster and skeptical of the EPA’s assurances that their community is safe. Similarly, independent scientists continue to condemn the EPA for, among other things, not being transparent about unknown risks and for allowing Norfolk Southern to play an outsize role in monitoring the contamination it caused.
Misti Allison, a mother of two who lives just over a mile from the derailment site and who unsuccessfully ran for mayor of East Palestine last year, called the federal response “lackluster” and said she often feels like a “canary in a coal mine.”