Brown urges Biden to act on emergency declaration
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EAST PALESTINE -- Two weeks ago, members of the Unity Council for the East Palestine Train Derailment (a community oversight group established by residents impacted by the rail disaster) traveled to Washington, D.C. to ask lawmakers to support a Presidential Declaration of Disaster for East Palestine and the surrounding areas.
On Monday, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) followed through on his promise to help by sending a letter to President Joe Biden, to urge the Biden administration to approve Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine's Major Disaster Declaration request.
"In a meeting I had just two weeks ago with residents from East Palestine, representatives from the community shared some of the challenges they continue to face as a result of this devastating derailment - some are still forced to live away from home, others are concerned about the quality of the air in their homes or the impact of basement groundwater exposure, and many are facing a range of health symptoms and are understandably concerned about their health both now and in the future," Brown wrote. "Nobody trusts Norfolk Southern to do what's right by the community and compensate residents for the significant costs - including health care costs - that have resulted from the company's negligence. Understandably, this community feels left behind - by both the company and their government."
In the letter, Brown said "East Palestine needs federal resources now, while the government figures out the best way to recover these funds from Norfolk Southern and that "the residents of East Palestine shouldn't have to wait any longer for additional assistance."
Thursday marked six months since the trail derailed and one month since DeWine requested a Disaster Declaration from the president. A governor has just 30 days from the time a disaster occurs to make such a declaration. DeWine was able to take more time in doing so by asking for and receiving a 120-day extension from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. A request for a second extension was denied and DeWine made the formal request on Feb 3.
When he made the request, DeWine stated that the community had no unmet needs. The Unity Council took exception to that statement. It was one of the catalysts that spurred the group's trip to Capitol Hill last month and still was a topic of contention on Monday.
"Gov. DeWine said when he requested a declaration of disaster that there were no unmet needs, nobody has gone door-to-door so how can he say confidently that there are no unmet needs," Zsuzsa Gyenes said. "I was never asked. There were other people that were never asked. So how can they say when they have never spoken to us? They haven't asked any of us."
Gyenes spoke to local media during an event organized by the Unity Council along the banks of Leslie Run just outside of the village on state Route 170 near Negley. The event was an exercise in empathy meant to raise awareness as residents were asked to leave a rock painted with a question that they feel the Environmental Protection Agency, local government and other responding agencies have not yet answered.
Most of the questions focused on the ongoing health symptoms some in the community are experiencing in the wake of the derailment. Other questions focused on the frustration of still being displaced and the fear of returning to their homes.
Gyenes is one of the East Palestine residents still displaced.
"I don't know where to go that is safe. I am still in a hotel," she said. "I don't know where to go where something like this isn't going to happen again."
Unity Council president Jami Wallace and Gyenes organized Monday's event. Gyenes said the idea behind it was to let people outside of East Palestine know that people are still suffering and to let the people still suffering know they haven't been forgotten.
"I thought today was a good idea. We want to show people that we are still here, we are still suffering, we are still a community searching for answers," Gyenes said. "We are not ready for the world to move on because we are still living in this. It's not over and we are trying to do everything we can do to let the world know that we need help."
Wallace was grateful for Brown's support but stressed that East Palestine and the surrounding communities need more.
"I want to thank Sherrod Brown for sending out that letter and to urge anyone who wants to join our fight -- any legislators, politicians, I don't care if its local, state or federal - because we need as much support as we can get right now," Wallace said.
Other East Palestine residents who participated in the rock exercise expressed anger with the railroad ignoring some residents and with the village leaders who they say have helped fracture the town they should be helping to heal.
"Norfolk Southern's PR department has done a great job because they have divided our community that used to care about each other," Robin Seman said. "We are being so ostracized and are told that we should be grateful that Norfolk Southern is making our economic-disadvantaged town better than it was. There are people who aren't sick that are mad at the ones that are and we are stuck in the middle."