Ohio resident shares ‘really bad’ symptoms after toxic train derailment and issues cleaning warning

A resident of eastern Palestine delivers an important message to the CEO of the Norfolk Southern Railway after promising to clean up the toxic train derailment site.

“I hope they do,” Debbie Foster told Fox News Live co-host Arthel Neville on Sunday. “It’s something they have to do long-term. This city needs to be tested over the long term. There are a lot of people who don’t want to stay and you really can’t blame them. They did little kids I don’t know if I had little kids [whether] I would stay because it will affect us in the long term. And that would be very important to me.”

Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw met with officials in eastern Palestine on Saturday and told reporters he was there to “support the community” after the rail operator came under scrutiny for its response to the Feb. 3 train derailment disaster was.

The train derailment involving 50 wagons, 10 of which were loaded with vinyl chloride, caused hazardous chemicals to spill onto the ground and a plume of smoke to rise into the air.

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As a result of the chemical spills, residents living within a mile radius have been evacuated and many have reported health symptoms such as a sore throat, headache and other respiratory problems.

In the wake of the toxic Norfolk Southern Railway train derailment, Ohio resident Debbie Foster said the company must commit to cleaning up the mess “long term” on Fox News Live on Sunday, February 19, 2023.

Norfolk Southern had written a letter She said she is listening to residents of eastern Palestine and that clean-up work and coordination with federal, state and local authorities is underway. The company did not attend last week’s public meeting, reportedly out of concern for the safety of its employees.

In an updated statement Friday, Norfolk Southern said it was obligated to pay related costs.

Foster’s family, who own a number of rental properties in the East Palestine region and stayed home during the disaster, recalled experiencing some “really bad” symptoms.

“We’re actually right out of the evacuation area, right on the edge. My husband complained of a headache last week. We have rental houses, one of our semi-detached houses is right in front of the railway line. And I went down there the day after the evacuation, and I was down there for maybe 10 or 15 minutes just to look at it, and I felt like I had sand in my throat. I had a sore throat a few days after that,” Foster explained.

Ohio’s governor advises drinking bottled water, though officials say water testing is fine so far

Reluctant to leave the area because of her business connections, Foster said her family “listens” and “hopes” the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other government officials are right when they say water and air are safe to drink and breathing are .

“We’re on city water, but we use bottled water,” Foster said. “We will have our water personally tested just for our own peace of mind.”

Foster’s “main concern” is water pollution, as the potentially toxic water can spill into other local communities.

“The other communities like Darlington have evacuated that. But they don’t seem to be helping those different connecting areas,” Foster noted, “which I would be very upset about if I lived there.”

Several lawsuits have been filed against the railroad, which announced last week that it would set up a $1 million fund to help the community.

Senator Maria Cantwell on Friday announced an investigation by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation into the railroads’ handling of hazardous materials and said she had sent letters to Norfolk Southern and six other major railroads.

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Consumer advocate and legal trainee Erin Brockovich said on Kennedy last week that residents of eastern Palestinians need to trust their own instincts.

“You have to believe what you smell, what you see, what you feel, what you experience,” Brockovich said Wednesday.

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Julia Musto from FOX Business contributed to this report.