To stay, Carr's daughter Kristina Ferguson, 49, says she would want independent testing and a thorough cleaning of their home. Still, she would move if she could, because the feeling of security has been upended and “the safety of my children is my only concern.” She doubts her home could sell for what it would cost to buy elsewhere. Others say “Get ready for the greatest comeback in American history.”īut many wonder if they should stay or go.įor Summer Magness, it would be difficult to leave the community where her family has lived for generations. There also are signs reflecting the hardship the village has been through: “Y’all OK?” says one. Statues of bulldogs, the high school mascot, are placed throughout town. The Chamber of Commerce, library and post office are there, too. Small businesses like Sprinklz on Top and The Corner Store line the main drag, North Market Street, along with chains like McDonald’s and Pizza Hut. “Then all of a sudden, overnight (the dream is) gone.” She and her husband sold their first East Palestine home last year to move into their “forever home” a couple miles away, on a road named for one of her ancestors. Most of Conard's relatives work in factories and, like many here, live paycheck to paycheck, putting aside money to buy and fix up homes, she says. “I miss being able to look out the window and not see a stranger,” says Carr, choking back tears. She knew everyone in her neighborhood, walked to church and always felt safe among friends.įor now, she's staying in a condominium 10 miles (16 kilometers) away that the railroad rented the family for six months because Carr, who has Parkinson’s, fared poorly during a month in a cramped hotel room. “We couldn't have made it without them,” Magness says.Įighty-one-year-old Norma Carr raised four children in the cedar-sided 1930s duplex she moved into 57 years ago and where three generations lived together before the derailment. Samantha, now 16, gets all A’s, attends homecoming and still has her circle of friends. Summer Magness chokes up recalling how the community held benefit dinners after her eldest daughter, Samantha, suffered multiple cardiac arrests playing softball four years ago, resulting in a brain injury that left her paralyzed and unable to speak. Parents don’t worry about their kids because they know other parents are looking out for them. This is the kind of place where everyone seems connected to everyone else, residents say. “Nothing jumped off page for us yet,” Durno says, adding that testing would continue just to be sure. The EPA's Mark Durno says continual air monitoring at the derailment site and in the community and soil tests in parks, on agricultural land and at other potentially affected areas have not yet detected concerning levels of any contaminants. The railroad also handed out $1,000 “inconvenience checks” to residents within the ZIP code that includes East Palestine and surrounding areas, but most did not qualify for further assistance and went home. “I pledge that we won't be finished until we make it right," Norfolk Southern President and CEO Alan Shaw told an Ohio rail safety committee last week. The railroad also must remove toxic chemicals from two creeks, which could take longer. Norfolk Southern Railroad is paying for lodging for some families but won’t say how many still are out of their homes while the railroad excavates tens of thousands of tons of contaminated soil, a process the Environmental Protection Agency expects to take another 2-3 months. She remembers the scorched rail tanker at her property line and a backyard flooded with water from the burn site. Walker, 48, also works at a small hotel where many workers are staying, so is constantly reminded of the accident. “I have no idea how long we can continue to do this,” says Walker, while washing clothes at a laundromat. They’re unsure how or whether to move on from the accident and worry what will happen to them and the village where they have deep family roots, friendships and affordable homes. Shelby Walker bounces from hotel to hotel with her five children and four grandchildren while crews tear up railroad tracks and scoop out contaminated soil near their four-bedroom home.Īlmost 3 months after a fiery Norfolk Southern train derailment blackened the skies, sent residents fleeing and thrust East Palestine into a national debate over rail safety, residents say they are still living in limbo. EAST PALESTINE, Ohio - Jeff Drummond spends days and nights alone in a tiny room with fake wood paneling, two small beds and a microwave atop a mini refrigerator that serves as a nightstand - his pickup truck parked just outside the door at the roadside motel where he's taken refuge since early February.
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