(NewsNation) — Packed into the auditorium at the local high school, residents in East Palestine, Ohio, were given a simple message Friday night: “Hold your ground.”
The message was delivered by Erin Brockovich, the environmental activist of Hollywood fame who hosted a town hall at East Palestine High School. There, she told the town’s people that getting answers to their most critical questions about a Feb. 3 toxic train derailment would be a difficult journey.
“Unfortunately, this is not a quick fix,” she said. “This is going to be a long game.”
From the outset, she told the people what she said they needed to hear, even though it may scare them.
Brooke Hofmeister, a mother of two young children, said she feared for their health and felt worse than before about the situation after hearing the presentation.
“The truth is pretty scary,” the 29-year-old said.
She and her husband, Cory Hofmeister, said they didn’t feel safe in their hometown and were uncertain about whether to remain, echoing concerns raised by many who attended the two-hour session. It was sponsored by East Palestine Justice, a group formed by Brockovich, lawyers and scientific and medical experts.
Brockovich told residents they need to stick together as a community.
“You have the ability to become — and you will become — your own critical thinker. You will vet information, you will ask questions, you will demand answers. You will listen to that gut and that instinct that will keep you connected as a community,” Brockovich said. “Don’t let what’s happened here divide you.”
Twenty days have passed since the train carrying the toxic chemical vinyl chloride — among others — derailed in East Palestine, and the Gardner family is still experiencing health symptoms.
Headaches, coughs, and for one daughter Page Gardner, persistent rash on her arms, legs and face have been part of their lives since the Ohio train derailment.
They worry it’s a result of the chemicals released into the village’s air and water just days after the derailment.
“I couldn’t even turn the vent on because it was coming through my vents,” Helen Gardner told NewsNation before the town hall. “And it was smelling so bad, (the) smoke. I mean, it’s terrible.”
Helen and Page Gardner have owned a home just outside the evacuation zone for seven years. Now, they wish they had left.
The Gardners, like many others, have been left dissatisfied with the assurances given by government officials that the water is safe to drink and the air safe to breathe.
“I just don’t see why they didn’t evacuate us,” Helen Gardner said. “I mean, we was pretty much, like, left behind.”
Another speaker at the town hall was attorney Mikal Watts, who covered the preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board, people’s legal rights and side effects of the chemicals that were on the trains.
He urged people to get their blood and urine tested promptly, saying the results could help establish whether they have been exposed to dangerous substances and could be helpful if they take legal action.
“The court of public opinion and a court of law are different,” he said. “We need evidence.”
The Associated Press and NewsNation affiliate WKBN-TV contributed to this report.