Ohio U student native to East Palestine copes with the chaos

This photo taken with a drone shows the continuing cleanup of portions of a Norfolk Southern freight train that derailed Friday night in East Palestine, Ohio, Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023. Photo by Gene J. Puskar, Associated Press.

East Palestine, Ohio, and its residents have been forced to adapt after a train carrying toxic chemicals derailed on Feb. 3. 

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), vinyl chloride, butyl acrylate, ethylene glycol, isobutylene and ethylhexyl acrylate were all confirmed to be found in the soil, water and air after the derailment of a train owned by Norfolk Southern Railway.

Some of the chemicals and their combinations found by the EPA can be extremely dangerous to humans, leading to several long-term health concerns. East Palestine’s residents and the environment have already felt the effects of the incident. 

“(East Palestine residents are experiencing) the inability to breathe, the accident makes it harder to breathe. When people are close to the area of the accident there is a burning feeling when they breathe. There also are a lot of issues with coughing up food and mucus as the body tries to fight back against it. The water is making people’s stomachs sick as well,” Ohio University freshman studying music production and East Palestine native Cooper Figley said. 

East Palestine residents have grown frustrated and confused as water tests done by Norfolk Southern have produced safe results. According to Figley, however, despite the safe results some residents who have had contact with the water had a film on their skin that then caused rashes. People have used bottled or filtered water to wash the film off. 

“They are telling everyone that it is completely safe. The one thing that I know is that everyone wants them (Norfolk Southern) to stop keeping it so under wraps,” Figley said. “Norfolk Southern has been giving out money to people in town to keep information from spreading. Reporters have been arrested when they try to report on the story and town hall meetings. They need to stop lying, and stop trying to keep it as quiet as it is because they are going to seriously end up hurting or killing people.” 

A black plume rises over East Palestine, Ohio, as a result of a controlled detonation of a portion of the derailed Norfolk Southern trains Monday, Feb. 6, 2023. Photo by Gene J. Puskar, Associated Press.

Figley claims it has been a serious problem trying to get the full story out to the public and that a lot of the media have only gotten portions of the story right, not the full truth. 

“There have been news reports saying that people, during the fire itself, were able to go back and get their pets and make sure that everything is okay, it was completely false. They weren’t allowed to go see their animals and a lot of pets died because of that,” Figley said. 

Some of the news has been so misleading that Figley has been turning to social media for a better idea of what is actually going on. 

“This has been the first time that I have realized that I am getting much more reliable and true information from these sources (social media) than any news outlet that is supposedly credible and it is really disheartening.”

Figley is not the only one not buying everything Norfolk Southern is selling. Governor Mike DeWine released a statement that conveyed his support for East Palestine residents. 

“We know that the science says that East Palestine is safe, but we also know that residents are very worried,” DeWine said in the statement. “They are asking themselves 'Is my headache just a headache? Or is it a result of the chemical spill? Are other medical symptoms caused by the spill?' Those are very legitimate questions and residents deserve answers.”

Due to the rising concern within East Palestine and the rest of Ohio, a medical clinic is going to be set up in East Palestine with officials from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services there to assist. 

The situation in East Palestine has continued to unravel, the EPA has ordered Norfolk Southern to lead all cleanup activities linked to the East Palestine train derailment in its latest press release.  

Figley plans to return home during spring break, despite the uncertainty of the situation. “I’m going to go home,” said Figley. “I’m going to try and use filtered water and boiled water as much as possible, I’m going to be wearing masks when I’m outside. I don’t think there is much I can do but I’m not going to let it stop me from seeing my family and having a home.”

For those looking to support students in the East Palestine area, Figley provided a GoFundMe for contributions.