East Palestine health issues persist one year after Ohio train derailment

Thick clouds of black smoke billowed into the air of East Palestine, Ohio, after a Norfolk Southern train derailment nearly one year ago, polluting the environment with toxic chemicals that residents fear have caused long-term health effects.

“We basically nuked a town with chemicals so we could get a railroad open,” hazardous materials specialist Sil Caggiano said.

After a year of pleas for help and near silence from the Biden administration, the president announced he was finally going to visit the town this month.

However, residents are still upset over how the train derailment cleanup was handled and fear the damage done is irreversible.