Government descends on Ohio in wake of train derailment

It's government descended on small town Ohio. They're focusing on the mess in East Palestine after that major train derailment. East Palestine hosted representatives from the Department of Health and Human Services, the CDC, the EPA, and Ohio Senators, JD Vanson, Sherrod Brown, all of them promising to protect the people of East Palestine and hold those responsible for the crash accountable. I wanna hear that my crank is gonna be clear. I played in that as a child. I went through those tunnels. I want my town safe.

And we have new emotional reaction from locals like that woman you just heard from tonight. But first, our Valerie Lyons is live with the latest government call to action and the efforts to track its effects here in the tri-state. Hey, Valerie. Yeah, Jasmine, Greater Cincinnati Water Works continues to monitor the Ohio River for chemicals believed to have seeped in through a small creek near that derailment site. Now, they haven't detected any in our area yet, but it's clear in East Palestine, worry and frustration still weighs heavy. I'll be satisfied when people in East Palestine are satisfied. They're much more focused in reopening the railway than in cleaning up this community.

That's a big, big problem. Ohio Senators Sherrod Brown and newly elected JD Vance putting boots on the ground Thursday. Neighbors in a one-mile radius of the derailment site were allowed to return days after an ordered evacuation, but many still worry if the air and water is in fact safe. People are suspicious about going back when they, you can tell the smell when I was over at the, where the derailment was. You could smell something you're not used to smelling. Both Brown and Vance want Norfolk Southern held accountable. The railroad opted out of a town hall Wednesday, saying it's getting threats from the community.

They need to be here in the community. They need to be answering questions. Look, these are nice people. These are good people. The idea that they're going to get beat up if they walk into East Palestine, I think is not true. Vance, even posting this video, standing at a creek near the derailment site, he shows what he says are pollutants still in the water. Just see that chemical pop out of the creek.

This is disgusting. With more residents claiming illnesses in the two weeks since the derailment, Governor Mike DeWine is requesting immediate federal aid. While most of it will come. We're deploying teams from HHS and the CDC now. FEMA says Ohio isn't eligible for its assistance. These needs are much more expansive than what FEMA can meet. And so FEMA is on the front lines when there is a hurricane or tornado, as you know.

This situation is very different. And so that doesn't mean FEMA isn't supporting a response. They indeed are. This is a multiple agency response. Now here at home, waterworks expects any chemicals to reach our stretch of the Ohio by either late Saturday or early Sunday. It's tested 127 water samples since that derailment 13 days ago. Now you can keep up to date with that testing by scanning the QR code on your screen.

Reporting live on the Ohio this evening, Valerie Lyons, WCPO, 9 News. The other big concern tonight, particularly there in Northeast Ohio, is air quality. EPA officials insist tests keep coming back fine. But residents are complaining about the smell and headaches. During our 7 o'clock news, I ask our Scripps sister station reporter, Joe Paganakis, live about what he was smelling near that scene tonight. I've been reporting here in East Palestine for the past four days now. And I can tell you each day the smell is a little bit less, a little bit not as prominent.

Norfolk Southern and the Ohio EPA have conducted more than 400 in-home inspections the past week. But as the smell lingers, so does a lack of trust from people who live there. You're not satisfied with the testing that's been done at your house? No. And you're going to smell it as soon as you go into my house? We should not have been back into town until all of this was done. And we wanted a first person account of what it's like for train crews with the heavy responsibility to transport these hazardous chemicals. Our Craig McKee spoke to David Farwick, who served as a Norfolk Southern engineer for 40 years. He asked Farwick what he would say to the people of East Palestine.

I know they're frustrated. I know they're angry. This is their town. This stuff has to be moved. The record shows that removing it by rail is very, very safe. These things come along very, very seldom. It would take 300 trucks to move exactly what we did.

And do you want 300 more trucks out there? Or do you want this to go right through one time?.

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