EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — Hundreds of Ohio residents gathered in a school gym on Wednesday night to demand answers about the ongoing fallout from a derailed train carrying hazardous chemicals, transforming what had been billed as an informational meeting into a heated town hall where officials with the railroad company didn’t even show up.
The mayor pleaded with the crowd at East Palestine High School to remain civil as they called out questions and occasionally booed after answers. The meeting was the latest effort to quell concerns and ballooning distrust, nearly two weeks after a Norfolk Southern freight train derailed and a controlled burn of chemicals onboard forced residents to evacuate temporarily.
Linda Murphy, 49, who attended the meeting with her husband, Russell, pressed officials about the difficulty of getting her water tested. Dead fish were turning up in a creek near her house, Ms. Murphy said, and the smell of chemicals hung in the air. “I don’t understand how we can have this issue and everything is O.K.”
State officials have continued to recommend that some residents drink bottled water as testing continues in private wells, municipal water and streams, and fears have percolated over the possible dangers of long-term exposure to the chemicals.
For many of the roughly 4,700 people who live in East Palestine, the extent of what is unknown about the disaster and what consequences could emerge years from now have fueled their fears as they return to their daily routines.
Many residents were angry that officials had changed what had been billed as a town hall meeting to an “informational” session with representatives from state, county and local agencies, who sat at separate tables and fielded individual questions.
But Norfolk Southern officials were not there. They pulled out hours earlier, infuriating some residents who said they wanted answers from the company.
About 10 minutes in, Lenny Gravan, a tattoo artist in attendance, pulled Mayor Trent Conaway aside and urged him to turn the event back into a question-and-answer session.
