An Ohio Senator refused to say whether he would drink the water of East Palestine despite residents being told consumption and use are safe. The small Ohio town was rocked by a massive explosion on February 3 after a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous chemicals crashed. Despite the evacuation order issued following the derailment now having been lifted, locals are still concerned about returning to their homes due to some residents experiencing rashes, headaches and other symptoms believed to be linked to the chemicals.
Sen Sherrod Brown (D) said residents were “right to be sceptical” about their safety as he refused to say whether he would use the water.
Asked if he and other officials should drink it to show residents it is safe to do so, Brown said: “Well, I think they are. I mean, I talked to the mayor.
“The mayor said definitively, emphatically, that people can drink the water. The mayor’s — I don’t know. I don’t think the mayor has small kids. He looks a little older than me.
“I didn’t ask him, but — about bathing his kids.”
The Ohio Senator claimed Norfolk Southern, the company overseeing the transportation of the chemicals, had failed to put the necessary safety measures in place to cut costs.
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Brown continued: “The EPA administrator, both the state and the federal EPA, said that when you return home, ‘we think the water is safe but when you return home you should be tested again for your water, your soil and your air.’
“Not to mention those who have their own wells.
“This is really the same old story – corporations do stock buybacks, they do big dividends checks, they lay off workers.
“Thousands of workers have been laid off from Norfolk Southern. Then they don’t invest in safety rules and safety regulations and these kinds of things happen.”
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He told CNN’s State of the Union: “That’s why people in East Palestine are so upset, they know corporate lobbyists have had far too much influence in our government and they see this is the result.”
Representatives of Norfolk Southern were absent from a public meeting attended by hundreds of people last week as officials said they were worried about physical threats.
The company said in a statement that it was “committed to coordinating the cleanup project and paying for its associated costs,” saying it wanted to ensure that East Palestine’s residents and natural environment “not only recover but thrive.”
CEO Alan Shaw said: “Our company will be working tirelessly every day to get East Palestine back on its feet as soon as possible.
“We know we will be judged by our actions, and we are taking this accountability and responsibility very seriously.”
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East Palestine residents have complained about lingering headaches and irritated eyes and some have said they are afraid to return to their homes.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said a medical clinic opening early next week to evaluate residents and analyze their symptoms will include a team of experts in chemical exposures being deployed to eastern Ohio.
Professor of environmental health and engineering at Johns Hopkins University, Peter DeCarlo insisted that more testing is needed to determine which chemicals are present.
DeCarlo told ABC News: “We just don’t have the information we need to understand what chemicals may be present.
“We know it started as vinyl chloride, but as soon as you burn that all bets are off. You have a lot of chemical byproducts that can happen from a combustion process like that.”
Asked if he would move back to East Palestine if he were already living there, DeCarlo said: “I have two little boys. I would not.”
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