EAST PALESTINE, Ohio (NewsNation) — A former Ohio state senator wants to know why there hasn’t been a criminal investigation into Norfolk Southern for the 2023 train derailment and subsequent release of toxic chemicals into East Palestine.
“Why hasn’t there been a criminal investigation into Norfolk Southern?” Nina Turner said on NewsNation’s “Morning in America.” “That’s the question we all should be asking.”
Residents say the creeks in their town are still visibly contaminated nearly a year after a Norfolk Southern train derailed, unleashing toxic chemicals into the small community.
“The children have runny noses and rashes. (Some people are experiencing) mental fog. All of these things that they are enduring are hurting them physically, mentally, and materially,” Turner said.
She also questioned what the future holds for the property owners of East Palestine.
“(Residents) will not even be able to sell their homes if that day comes when they want to do it, because of what is happening to them,” Turner said.
Steve McCay, an East Palestine resident who spoke with NewsNation back in 2023, said he no longer felt safe in the area and was getting ready to sell his home in a down market.
“I’m certainly going to attempt (to sell the home). Even at that, am I going to feel bad trying to sell it to anyone who’s going to move in here? Are they going to be the wiser? Are they going to suffer long-term effects,” he wondered.
Turner said she places the blame on lawmakers from both sides of the aisle for failing to hold Norfolk Southern accountable.
“For the GOP, who always decries government, the residents there said we need government, and the government failed us,” said Turner. “And for Democrats who say that government is the fix, where is the fix?”
President Joe Biden will visit the site of the train derailment at a yet-to-be-announced time, a senior administration official said last week.