(NewsNation) — 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.
The Environment Protection Agency gave the all-clear for people to go back to the area almost immediately. But, rashes, chronic nose bleeds, respiratory infections and many other side effects started popping up upon their return.
“I undressed to get into the shower, and I had a rash all over the side of my face on both sides and all over my chest,” East Palestine resident Kaitlyn said.
Russell Waite, another resident, told NewsNation that it felt like his eyes were going to fall out of his head like they were bulging forward.
And these issues persist today.
“We are still experiencing some acute health care impacts,” resident Jessica Conard said. “Ultimately, what we need to understand is that there are still unmet needs here in terms of medical, and the health of this community needs to come first.”
Doctors in the community don’t know how to treat residents with these symptoms.
Dr. Arthur Chang, chief medical officer in the CDC’s environmental health division, confirmed an exposure did happen and the symptoms are proof.
“We may not know how to get rid of the vinyl chloride from the body, but we know how to treat those cancers,” Chang said.
Despite calls for concern, the CDC is not testing the health of East Palestine residents or collecting samples.
But one woman, Erin Haynes, is.
“Three out of four of the participants reported having at least one new health symptom,” Haynes said. “Eighty percent of the respondents reported an upper respiratory health symptom.”
Haynes, a professor at the University of Kentucky, has been conducting health studies on the residents in East Palestine. She has tracked 400 residents’ health through blood and urine tests.
“The main question is if these symptoms remain. And half of the residents, even in our follow-ups, are saying that their symptoms remain,” she said.
Haynes is the only person tracking the short and long-term health effects in the community.
“Unfortunately, I have not seen an organized public health response from our federal agencies,” Haynes said. “The public health response was severely lacking.”