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Mega Edition: Fears Over Contamination Grow In E. Palestine After The Train Derailment (11/3/26) · The Moscow Murders and More

0:00
Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome back to the program. The
0:05
Speaker 1: fear and distrust in East Palestine continues to grow on
0:10
Speaker 1: a daily basis as the people are not receiving the
0:14
Speaker 1: answers and the information that they deserve.
0:17
Speaker 2: And the fact that this rail.
0:19
Speaker 1: Company is taking any kind of center stage in what's
0:23
Speaker 1: going on here is just bananas to me. Now, I
0:27
Speaker 1: know there's folks out there that believe that the taxpayers
0:30
Speaker 1: shouldn't be on the hook for the cleanup here, and
0:32
Speaker 1: I agree. That's why I think the rail company should
0:35
Speaker 1: have to pay any fee that is associated with.
0:39
Speaker 2: Any of this cleanup.
0:40
Speaker 1: But as we all know, we can't leave these companies
0:43
Speaker 1: to their own devices without any oversight. If we left
0:47
Speaker 1: the rail company to decide and do the cleanup here
0:50
Speaker 1: on their own, forget it.
0:53
Speaker 2: They would do whatever they could to cut corners. And
0:55
Speaker 2: how do we know that?
0:56
Speaker 1: Well, history has told us that's what these kinds of
0:59
Speaker 1: corporations do. And then you look at them in the
1:01
Speaker 1: town right now trying to hand out $ 1, 000 inconvenience fees
1:05
Speaker 1: and shit. Like $ 1, 000 is enough. What does $ 1, 000 get
1:11
Speaker 1: you this day and age, really? And you're going to
1:13
Speaker 1: come out here and try and offer me $ 1, 000? After
1:18
Speaker 1: you poisoned my whole ass town? You could take that $ 1, 000, buddy.
1:22
Speaker 1: and tell your story walking. So the people in Palestine,
1:26
Speaker 1: the people in Ohio, they want answers. And their nerves
1:30
Speaker 1: are on edge, as they should be. Imagine if this
1:33
Speaker 1: was your backyard, how would you feel? Today's article is
1:37
Speaker 1: from The Guardian. Headline, we just need answers. Distrust grows
1:42
Speaker 1: in Ohio town after toxic train derailment. And I've seen
1:47
Speaker 1: a lot of people try and downplay this like it's
1:49
Speaker 1: no big deal. Like, you know, there's all kinds of
1:52
Speaker 1: train derailments every year, over 1,700 of them.
1:56
Speaker 2: What's the big deal?
1:57
Speaker 1: Well, how many of them have vinyl chloride in this
2:00
Speaker 1: amount that's getting dumped into the atmosphere? Not very many, folks, okay?
2:06
Speaker 1: So when people are out here trying to smooth this
2:08
Speaker 1: over and act like it's not a big deal, it
2:10
Speaker 1: just makes me roll my eyes. Because this is a serious,
2:14
Speaker 1: serious issue, and trying to downplay it is a very,
2:17
Speaker 1: very bad look. Now, of course, there's always going to
2:20
Speaker 1: be the flip side of that, people that want to
2:22
Speaker 1: do the fear-mongering and all the rest of it, but
2:26
Speaker 1: this is an issue that certainly deserves your attention, and
2:29
Speaker 1: the people of Palestine certainly deserve our support. This article
2:34
Speaker 1: was authored by Tom Perkins. During his Thursday visit to
2:39
Speaker 1: the site of a fiery train derailment that may have
2:42
Speaker 1: poisoned a small eastern Ohio town with a range of
2:45
Speaker 1: highly toxic chemicals, The Environmental Protection Agency chief, Michael Reagan,
2:51
Speaker 1: told residents all families need to know that they are safe. Yeah,
2:56
Speaker 1: famous last words, right? I'm from the government. I'm here
2:59
Speaker 1: to help. Nothing against Mr. Reagan, but boy, oh boy,
3:03
Speaker 1: I don't think I'd be confident with that statement. And
3:06
Speaker 1: I've said it several times now since we've been covering this.
3:09
Speaker 1: That I wouldn't be bringing my family back to this
3:11
Speaker 1: town if I was financially capable of footing the bill
3:15
Speaker 1: to be somewhere else. Because I have zero confidence in
3:18
Speaker 1: what the government or the rail company has to say
3:21
Speaker 1: at this point. We are not far enough along in
3:23
Speaker 1: the process for anyone to come out and say, oh yeah,
3:26
Speaker 1: everything's going to be fine here, folks. Just keep on
3:29
Speaker 1: moving along. Drink that water. Have a great day. Go
3:32
Speaker 1: have a dip in the pond. There are way too
3:34
Speaker 1: many unknowns to be cavalier about this. And I think
3:38
Speaker 1: it's a big mistake. to go about this like it's
3:40
Speaker 1: just a run-of-the-mill hazardous chemical spill, because it's not just that.
3:46
Speaker 1: Vinyl chloride is very, very dangerous, and I know people
3:49
Speaker 1: talk about it turning into mustard gas and all of that,
3:52
Speaker 1: and for sure, that's certainly dangerous.
3:55
Speaker 2: My big issue, though, is the overall lasting effects.
3:59
Speaker 1: This shit getting into the soil, getting into the groundwater,
4:02
Speaker 1: and then what about the food that's grown in this area?
4:05
Speaker 1: Is that going to be contaminated with vinyl chloride? But
4:09
Speaker 1: Reagan's words, along with those from the Ohio Governor Mike
4:13
Speaker 1: DeWine's administration and Norfolk Southern officials, have been of little
4:17
Speaker 1: comfort to Jamie Koza. After evacuating for days after the
4:22
Speaker 1: February 3rd derailment, she was told it was safe.
4:24
Speaker 2: To return home.
4:26
Speaker 1: But a chemical odor still lingers in her flat. She
4:29
Speaker 1: urged a Norfolk Southern official to visit, and the company
4:33
Speaker 1: is now offering to pay for her relocation over safety fears.
4:37
Speaker 1: But everything's fine here, folks. Everybody's OK. Come back to town.
4:42
Speaker 1: You can breathe the air. You can drink the water.
4:47
Speaker 1: Koza noted East Palestine residents were told the municipal water
4:52
Speaker 1: was safe to drink, but also advised to buy bottled water.
4:56
Speaker 1: And many have complained of rashes after they shower. But
5:00
Speaker 1: everything's normal. According to the government and according to the
5:05
Speaker 1: rail company. You have nothing to worry about down here.
5:07
Speaker 2: You're good.
5:08
Speaker 1: Just go take your shower, drink your water. And then
5:11
Speaker 1: in five years, we'll have all of these commercials on
5:13
Speaker 1: TV like the Camp Lejeune ones. Residents were told they
5:18
Speaker 1: only had vinyl chloride to fear. Then the list of
5:20
Speaker 1: dangerous chemicals spilled by the train grew. Federal agencies may
5:25
Speaker 1: not release the full list of chemicals for months. Imagine
5:29
Speaker 1: there is zero transparency, folks. and the government out here
5:32
Speaker 1: playing all these fucking games and not letting anybody in
5:35
Speaker 1: on what's really going on is terrifying. Each day seems
5:41
Speaker 1: to bring new contradictions, and every bit of information from
5:44
Speaker 1: officials feels like it raises more questions than it answers,
5:48
Speaker 1: Kaza said. The uncertainty is generating a deep sense of distrust.
5:54
Speaker 1: Have you noticed a pattern here yet? All the stuff
5:56
Speaker 1: we cover when they're not transparent, how it sows seeds
5:59
Speaker 1: of distrust, And in those seeds of distrust, that's how
6:02
Speaker 1: these moronic conspiracy theories grow. And that's why it's laughable
6:06
Speaker 1: when you have these government officials out here talking about
6:09
Speaker 1: misinformation and this, that, the other thing, when they're directly responsible.
6:14
Speaker 2: For helping to cultivate it.
6:17
Speaker 1: People are just angry, but they don't know who to
6:19
Speaker 1: be angry with because we're not getting enough information to
6:23
Speaker 1: know who to be mad at, Koza added. The air
6:26
Speaker 1: is fine, but don't go outside. Your water is fine,
6:29
Speaker 1: but drink bottled water. You can't trust them. And I
6:33
Speaker 1: think that's the crux of all of it. You just
6:35
Speaker 1: can't trust these people at this point. About 50 out
6:40
Speaker 1: of 141 cars on the Norfolk Southern train derailed and
6:44
Speaker 1: exploded in a towering fireball over the town of 4700
6:49
Speaker 1: at the edge of the Appalachian Hills. The fire burned
6:53
Speaker 1: near tankers carrying vinyl chloride, but caused.
6:56
Speaker 2: No immediate injuries.
6:58
Speaker 1: Two days later, officials feared a major explosion and conducted
7:02
Speaker 1: a controlled burn of vinyl chloride as a preventative measure. Yeah,
7:07
Speaker 1: I don't know about all of that. Again, I'm not
7:09
Speaker 1: a chemical expert, but creating a mushroom cloud over a
7:14
Speaker 1: town in America is probably not a good idea. Most
7:18
Speaker 1: residents had been evacuated, and on February 8th, they were
7:22
Speaker 1: given clearance to return, but many still see dangers. At
7:26
Speaker 1: the site of the wreck, crumpled and charred tanker cars
7:29
Speaker 1: still lay in the mud aside the tracks. So you
7:32
Speaker 1: mean to tell me that that mud is not contaminated
7:35
Speaker 1: soil and that that contamination is not already seeping into
7:39
Speaker 1: the ground? In the immediate vicinity and in pockets throughout
7:43
Speaker 1: the city, a potent chemical odor hangs in the air.
7:47
Speaker 1: Residents have described it as similar to turpentine or bleach
7:52
Speaker 1: and said it sticks to your nose. Breathing it in
7:55
Speaker 1: for a few minutes may leave a metallic taste like pennies,
7:59
Speaker 1: but there is absolutely nothing to worry about, folks.
8:01
Speaker 2: That's normal.
8:02
Speaker 1: For you to go outside, get a nice breath of
8:04
Speaker 1: fresh air, and for it to taste like pennies in
8:06
Speaker 1: your mouth afterwards. In recent days, some have reported dead
8:11
Speaker 1: pets or foxes, and the birds or outdoor cats they
8:15
Speaker 1: feed have disappeared. A chemical sheen still coats parts of
8:19
Speaker 1: small creeks that run through the town, and dead fish
8:22
Speaker 1: have been found throughout local waterways as the pollution plume
8:26
Speaker 1: moves downstream. Temporary dams placed throughout the creek's pool, the chemicals,
8:32
Speaker 1: which are sucked out with industrial pumps that filter the water. Yeah,
8:37
Speaker 1: I'm very confident in that. Let me go out and
8:39
Speaker 1: play in that creek afterwards and go and collect some bullfrogs.
8:44
Speaker 1: The ongoing issues are what alarms Candace DiSanzo. Like many neighbors,
8:50
Speaker 1: she wants to leave, but her family does not have
8:52
Speaker 1: enough money. She fears for her children and husband who
8:56
Speaker 1: have developed rashes after bathing. As she discussed the plight
9:01
Speaker 1: on her front porch, her eyes were red and swollen
9:04
Speaker 1: and one of her children had gone hoarse.
9:06
Speaker 2: Symptoms, she said, developed after the wreck.
9:09
Speaker 1: So all of these people out here trying to tell
9:12
Speaker 1: you that this is no big deal. They should be
9:15
Speaker 1: ashamed of themselves. Because this is obviously a big deal.
9:19
Speaker 1: And whenever there is this kind of chemical spill, we
9:22
Speaker 1: don't see the true results of something like this for
9:25
Speaker 1: quite some time. I can't help but feel like I'm
9:30
Speaker 1: slowly poisoning my kids by staying, she said. Some suffering
9:35
Speaker 1: from symptoms are skeptical of local physicians' diagnosis. They have
9:40
Speaker 1: been told that they have eczema or a sinus infection
9:43
Speaker 1: or have been given antibiotics. Some scientists have advised residents
9:48
Speaker 1: to call the poison control center because family physicians are
9:51
Speaker 1: not trained to treat chemical exposure. Imagine this shit, but
9:55
Speaker 1: everything's cool down here. There's nothing to worry about and
9:58
Speaker 1: everything is well in hand. Imagine showing up at the
10:01
Speaker 1: doctor's office with chemical exposure, and they try to give
10:04
Speaker 1: you antibiotics. Children return to school early in the week
10:09
Speaker 1: only to find a chemical smell in the East Palestine
10:12
Speaker 1: high school hallways, despite the fact that custodians had cleaned,
10:16
Speaker 1: said Jenna Koza, niece of Jamie Koza. A contaminated creek
10:20
Speaker 1: runs next to the school and children are stressed and worried,
10:23
Speaker 1: she said, adding that she lives in constant fear of
10:27
Speaker 1: this tragedy happening again. These poor people are going through it.
10:32
Speaker 1: Imagine waking up this morning, this fine Sunday morning, to
10:35
Speaker 1: this tragedy in your backyard. When I smell that chemical smell,
10:40
Speaker 1: it takes me back to when all of this happened
10:43
Speaker 1: and I panic and I get anxiety from it, she said.
10:46
Speaker 1: She also questions air test results. Though the EPA website
10:50
Speaker 1: states it tested Aaron nearly 500 homes, Norfolk Southern hired
10:55
Speaker 1: contractors to conduct studies, so some are skeptical of the results.
11:00
Speaker 1: The rail company depleted more of its remaining credibility when
11:03
Speaker 1: it refused to take part in a Wednesday town hall
11:06
Speaker 1: meeting over alleged threats it had received. Vafangul your threats.
11:11
Speaker 1: These people are living with a chemical cloud over their
11:14
Speaker 1: head and you're worried about showing up at the town
11:16
Speaker 1: hall meeting because somebody might be mean to you? At
11:20
Speaker 1: this point, nobody trusts them, so we don't want to
11:22
Speaker 1: hear what they have to say and what is going
11:24
Speaker 1: on in our homes. They're going to tell us whatever
11:26
Speaker 1: the hell they want, said resident Chris Wallace. A company
11:30
Speaker 1: spokesman on Wednesday highlighted more than $ 1. 5 million spent on
11:34
Speaker 1: resident assistance, including direct payments, of $ 1, 000. Big deal, $ 1, 000?
11:41
Speaker 1: What's that going to do? What's that, a few nights
11:43
Speaker 1: in a hotel room? Norfolk Southern this year announced $ 10
11:47
Speaker 1: billion in stock buybacks, and reported $ 3. 2 billion in profits
11:53
Speaker 1: last year. But here's the $ 1, 000. These people have some nerve,
11:58
Speaker 1: and this rail company, they need to be absolutely put
12:01
Speaker 1: on the shelf. Residents say $ 1, 000 will not cover much
12:07
Speaker 1: of the fallout. As Jackie Johnson picked up sticks in
12:10
Speaker 1: her large yard just a few blocks from the wreck site,
12:13
Speaker 1: she said she no longer feared the health threats, but
12:16
Speaker 1: said her life had been damaged in a different way.
12:20
Speaker 1: She and her husband just retired from the Federal Bureau
12:23
Speaker 1: of Prisons and had planned to sell their house so
12:25
Speaker 1: they could buy a new home in Columbus near their grandchild.
12:29
Speaker 1: They were waiting for home prices to inch up a
12:31
Speaker 1: bit further before selling their tidy house, but the wreck
12:35
Speaker 1: has likely cratered their property value. Their life plans are
12:39
Speaker 1: indefinitely on hold. And how many other people are in
12:41
Speaker 1: this position? Any of you out there who are looking
12:44
Speaker 1: for a home going to head down to East Palestine
12:46
Speaker 1: anytime soon and pick one up? It might get to
12:50
Speaker 1: a point where we don't have an option. We'll just
12:52
Speaker 1: have to sell it for what somebody will buy it for,
12:55
Speaker 1: Johnson said. Kaza said Norfolk Southern has offered to pay
13:00
Speaker 1: for her relocation because her front door is mere steps
13:03
Speaker 1: from a creek. The contaminated water will likely leak into
13:07
Speaker 1: their basement and she has a three-year-old child. But standing
13:11
Speaker 1: outside her home, she motioned toward the neighbors who are
13:14
Speaker 1: also within about 50 feet of the creek. They have
13:17
Speaker 1: not received the same offer. Their kids deserve to live,
13:20
Speaker 1: just like mine do, Kaza said. So what is it
13:23
Speaker 1: that this train company is doing down here, and why
13:26
Speaker 1: isn't anyone from the federal government holding their feet to
13:29
Speaker 1: the fire? Up Market Street, about. 6 miles from the wreck,
13:35
Speaker 1: DeSanzo wonders why the company is not paying for her
13:39
Speaker 1: to relocate, or for more of her costs. Officials considered
13:43
Speaker 1: Kaza's home to be safe, she noted, until Norfolk Southern
13:47
Speaker 1: later changed its assessment. DeSanzo wonders about her home safety.
13:51
Speaker 1: She has received contradictory information about how to clean her
13:55
Speaker 1: home and suspects she made her clothes worse by washing
13:59
Speaker 1: them with city water. We just need answers, she said
14:02
Speaker 1: in tears. This city deserves answers and compensation. They most
14:07
Speaker 1: certainly do. And me and my big mouth is going
14:10
Speaker 1: to continue to talk about this until that occurs. These
14:15
Speaker 1: people deserve a whole lot more than they're getting, and
14:17
Speaker 1: they've received really no support. And the fact that this
14:21
Speaker 1: railroad is involved in any way as far as any
14:24
Speaker 1: sort of decision making is just bananas to me. They
14:28
Speaker 1: can't even figure out how to keep their trains on
14:30
Speaker 1: the tracks. But now we're going to let them be
14:32
Speaker 1: in charge of this cleanup and shit? Doesn't sound like
14:35
Speaker 1: a great idea to me. And hopefully, the people down
14:38
Speaker 1: here start getting some of the answers that they deserve.
14:43
Speaker 1: Alright folks, that's going to do it for this one.
14:45
Speaker 1: All of the information that goes with this episode... can
14:48
Speaker 1: be found in the description box. What's up, everyone, and
14:52
Speaker 1: welcome back to the program. As the situation in Ohio
14:57
Speaker 1: continues to develop, the residents there are not confident in
15:02
Speaker 1: the least in what's going on. And now, after having
15:07
Speaker 1: a spate of rashes, sore throats, and nausea, well, the
15:12
Speaker 1: state's setting up a health clinic to try and assuage
15:15
Speaker 1: some of the fears of the residents. My opinion, that
15:19
Speaker 1: ship has long sailed. This should have been done right
15:22
Speaker 1: in the aftermath of all of this. And remember, that
15:26
Speaker 1: controlled burn that they did, that didn't happen until days.
15:30
Speaker 2: After this wreck occurred.
15:32
Speaker 1: So we had all of that time for these chemicals
15:35
Speaker 1: to seep out into the ground, into the water, and
15:38
Speaker 1: get it moving. Now we also see that Cincinnati and
15:42
Speaker 1: Kentucky have both shut off their water supply from the
15:46
Speaker 1: Ohio River. of an abundance of caution. Now, when anybody
15:50
Speaker 1: starts talking about an abundance of caution, you know that
15:54
Speaker 1: there is a shit sandwich that you're about to take
15:57
Speaker 1: a bite out of. Meanwhile, the CEO of Norfolk Southern
16:01
Speaker 1: was giving a press conference or whatever from right outside
16:04
Speaker 1: of his four and a half million dollar mansion. Meanwhile,
16:08
Speaker 1: the people here in Ohio can't even take a shower.
16:12
Speaker 1: They were told to throw all of their clothes away.
16:14
Speaker 1: And now as they come down with a sickness, the
16:17
Speaker 1: state is starting to react. So let's dive into this article,
16:22
Speaker 1: and let's get caught up. This article was published by CNN. Headline,
16:28
Speaker 1: as residents near the toxic train wreck in Ohio worry
16:32
Speaker 1: about rashes, sore throats, and nausea, the state sets up
16:35
Speaker 1: a health clinic. Well, isn't that great? Weeks after the
16:39
Speaker 1: initial spill, and now you guys are jumping into action
16:43
Speaker 1: and setting up a health clinic? Don't you think this
16:45
Speaker 1: would have been better served If it was done directly
16:48
Speaker 1: after this accident occurred, did you not understand that chemicals
16:52
Speaker 1: are bad for people? See, there's no good excuse for
16:55
Speaker 1: it in my opinion. This article was authored by Niran Salehe.
17:03
Speaker 1: While officials have repeatedly sought to assure residents that the
17:07
Speaker 1: water and air of East Palestine, Ohio are safe after
17:11
Speaker 1: the derailment of a train carrying hazardous materials earlier this month,
17:15
Speaker 1: Anxiety has permeated the community amid reports of rashes, nausea,
17:20
Speaker 1: and headaches. And that's just the initial reporting, right? Who
17:24
Speaker 1: knows what the long-term effects are going to be from
17:26
Speaker 1: these chemicals? And while we talk about the vinyl chloride,
17:30
Speaker 1: remember there's a whole ass concoction of chemicals that spilled
17:35
Speaker 1: when this train derailed. The state now plans to open
17:40
Speaker 1: a health clinic in East Palestine Tuesday. For residents concerned
17:44
Speaker 1: about possible symptoms related to the derailment and the Biden
17:48
Speaker 1: administration announced it deployed experts to help assess what dangers
17:53
Speaker 1: remain in the area after Ohio Governor Mike DeWine requested
17:57
Speaker 1: medical teams from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
18:01
Speaker 1: Prevention and the U.S. Department of Health. The question is,
18:06
Speaker 1: what took him so long to request all of this help?
18:09
Speaker 1: And why didn't the feds spring into action right away?
18:12
Speaker 1: When you're dealing with something like this, time is of
18:14
Speaker 1: the essence. Every minute that goes by that cleanup isn't
18:18
Speaker 1: being engaged in is another minute that the soil, the water,
18:22
Speaker 1: and the air can be polluted. It's been over two
18:26
Speaker 1: weeks since a train carrying vinyl chloride derailed in the
18:29
Speaker 1: small community of less than 5,000 people in igniting a
18:34
Speaker 1: days-long inferno and prompting crews to carry out detonations to
18:38
Speaker 1: the toxic chemical to prevent a potentially deadly explosion. and
18:42
Speaker 1: this whole entire controlled burn thing, I don't know how
18:46
Speaker 1: smart that was, to be honest with you. And it
18:49
Speaker 1: was the REL company, by the way, who initiated it.
18:52
Speaker 1: It wasn't like, you know, they had some kind of
18:54
Speaker 1: input from anybody else. So they go ahead with their
18:57
Speaker 1: controlled burn, and it ends up putting a mushroom cloud
19:01
Speaker 1: over an American city. The detonations unleashed a black cloud
19:05
Speaker 1: of smoke over the area, where a chemical stench lingered
19:08
Speaker 1: for days. While it was deemed safe for evacuated residents
19:12
Speaker 1: to return home on February 8th, community members have questioned
19:16
Speaker 1: how safe their village is and the validity of the
19:19
Speaker 1: air and water tests. And for me, the quickest way
19:23
Speaker 1: to test this water is to bring down all of
19:26
Speaker 1: these executives, bring down all of the senators, all of
19:29
Speaker 1: the state politicians that are talking about this. and have
19:33
Speaker 1: them drink some of the water. Have them come down
19:35
Speaker 1: there for a week, take showers, you know, do your
19:38
Speaker 1: daily duties that you'd be doing if you live there.
19:41
Speaker 1: All of these big mouths who say it's safe should
19:43
Speaker 1: come down here and live here for a few weeks.
19:46
Speaker 1: Show us how safe it is. U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown
19:50
Speaker 1: said residents are right to be skeptical. We think the
19:53
Speaker 1: water is safe, Brown told CNN, citing comments made by
19:57
Speaker 1: the administrators of the state and federal environmental protection agencies.
20:01
Speaker 1: But when you return to your home, you should be
20:04
Speaker 1: tested again for your water and your soil and your air.
20:08
Speaker 1: not to mention those that have their own wells. And
20:11
Speaker 1: never mind people who have basements. People who have basements
20:14
Speaker 1: have been told to leave their homes too because of
20:17
Speaker 1: the contamination that's going to seep up from the ground.
20:22
Speaker 1: Testing the air quality in more than 530 homes has
20:27
Speaker 1: shown no detection of contaminants, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
20:32
Speaker 1: said on Sunday. As for the water, no vinyl chloride
20:35
Speaker 1: has been detected, in any down-gradient waterways near the train derailment.
20:40
Speaker 1: EPA official Tiffany Kavalochek told CNN last week, oh, last week,
20:45
Speaker 1: is it? What about all of those ponds and creeks
20:48
Speaker 1: that we have seen the video evidence of, of them
20:51
Speaker 1: obviously being contaminated? And while some waterways in the area
20:56
Speaker 1: were contaminated, killing thousands of fish downstream, officials have said
21:01
Speaker 1: they believe those contaminants to be contained. Oh, yeah, I'm
21:04
Speaker 1: sure none of it seeped into the ground. None of
21:06
Speaker 1: it got into the soil, and none of it got
21:08
Speaker 1: into the waterways. After crews discovered the contaminated runoff on
21:14
Speaker 1: two surface water streams, Sulphur Run and Leslie Run, Norfolk
21:19
Speaker 1: Southern installed booms and dams to restrict the flow of
21:22
Speaker 1: contaminated water, according to the EPA. Still, despite the assurances
21:27
Speaker 1: from officials that the water is safe, some residents are
21:31
Speaker 1: too afraid to drink water from their taps, and the town...
21:34
Speaker 1: has been distributing bottled water. Desiree Walker, a 19-year-old resident
21:39
Speaker 1: of the town who lives just 900 feet from the
21:42
Speaker 1: derailment site, told CNN affiliate WOIO that she refuses to
21:47
Speaker 1: let her children drink the water, fearing it could have
21:50
Speaker 1: long-term health effects.
21:51
Speaker 2: Yeah, no shit. You blame her?
21:54
Speaker 1: Anyone out there listening to this podcast, would you let
21:57
Speaker 1: your kids drink this water at this point? There's a
22:01
Speaker 1: big concern because they're young. They've got their whole lives
22:05
Speaker 1: ahead of them, Walker said. I don't want this to
22:07
Speaker 1: impact them down the road. I want them to have
22:09
Speaker 1: a long, happy life. Walker said her family is feeling symptoms,
22:14
Speaker 1: but doctors tell them they don't know what to test for.
22:17
Speaker 1: At nighttime especially is when we smell it the most,
22:21
Speaker 1: she told the station. Our throats are sore. We're coughing
22:24
Speaker 1: a lot now. My son, his eyes matted shut. So
22:29
Speaker 1: all of these people were healthy, right? Then this train derails.
22:32
Speaker 1: And now they have all of these symptoms? I mean,
22:34
Speaker 1: this kid has his eye matted shut, their throats hurt,
22:37
Speaker 1: their noses are runny, headaches. And that's just in the
22:41
Speaker 1: very beginning here. If your body is already being symptomatic,
22:45
Speaker 1: can you imagine what the long-term effects of consistent inhalation
22:49
Speaker 1: of this shit would be? Why are people getting sick?
22:54
Speaker 1: As anger and frustration bubbled in the small town, hundreds
22:58
Speaker 1: of East Palestine residents attended a town hall last week
23:01
Speaker 1: to express concerns over air and water safety in their community.
23:06
Speaker 1: Residents reported a variety of issues, including rashes, sore throats,
23:11
Speaker 1: nausea and headaches, and shared worries that the symptoms could
23:14
Speaker 1: potentially be related to chemicals after the train derailment. Well, yeah,
23:20
Speaker 1: I mean, cause and effect, right? Everybody in the city
23:23
Speaker 1: was or town was relatively healthy. The train derails and
23:26
Speaker 1: now everybody has the same symptoms. Why are people getting
23:30
Speaker 1: sick if there's nothing in the air or water? One
23:33
Speaker 1: resident yelled during the gathering. Isla Antoniazzi and her family
23:39
Speaker 1: returned to their house less than a mile from the
23:41
Speaker 1: crash site the day after evacuation orders were lifted. The
23:45
Speaker 1: mother made sure to air the house out and wash
23:48
Speaker 1: all the linen before bringing her children home. But the
23:52
Speaker 1: next day when they woke up, they weren't themselves, Antoniazzi said.
23:57
Speaker 1: My oldest had a rash on her face. The youngest
24:00
Speaker 1: did too, but not as bad. The two-year-old was holding
24:03
Speaker 1: her eye and complaining that her eye was hurting. She
24:06
Speaker 1: was very lethargic, so I took them back to my
24:09
Speaker 1: parents' home. And a lot of it, unfortunately, is going
24:12
Speaker 1: to be stuck to the linen, the bedding, the clothing.
24:15
Speaker 1: All of that stuff is going to have to be
24:17
Speaker 1: thrown out. The Ohio Department of Health's clinic opening Tuesday
24:22
Speaker 1: is meant to help East Palestine recover from the incident,
24:25
Speaker 1: officials said. The clinic will have registered nurses, mental health specialists,
24:30
Speaker 1: at times a toxicologist, the agency said.
24:34
Speaker 2: I heard you. The state heard you.
24:36
Speaker 1: And now the Ohio Department of Health and many of
24:39
Speaker 1: our partner agencies are providing this clinic where people can
24:43
Speaker 1: come and discuss these vital issues with medical providers, said
24:47
Speaker 1: the department's director, Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff. The decision to conduct
24:52
Speaker 1: a controlled detonation at the derailment site on February 6th,
24:56
Speaker 1: also fueled skepticism and questions about safety. Yeah, usually when
25:01
Speaker 1: a bomb gets set off in an American town by
25:03
Speaker 1: a private company, there's going to be some questions. Officials
25:08
Speaker 1: said the move was meant to avert an explosion at
25:11
Speaker 1: the site of the derailment by venting the toxic vinyl
25:14
Speaker 1: chloride gas and burning it in a pit, a move
25:18
Speaker 1: that shot up a thick plume of smoke over the town.
25:22
Speaker 1: Vinyl chloride, a man-made substance used to make PVC, can
25:26
Speaker 1: cause dizziness, sleepiness, and headaches, and has also been linked
25:30
Speaker 1: to an increased risk of cancer in the liver, brain, lungs,
25:33
Speaker 1: and blood. The burning vinyl chloride gas could break down
25:38
Speaker 1: into compounds, including hydrogen chloride and phosgene, a chemical weapon
25:43
Speaker 1: used during World War I as a choking agent, according
25:46
Speaker 1: to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and CDC. After the detonation,
25:52
Speaker 1: crews checked the air for chemicals of concern, including phosgene
25:56
Speaker 1: and hydrogen chloride, as well as butyl acrylate, ethylene, glycol monobutyl,
26:03
Speaker 1: ether acetate, and two ethylexyl acrylate, according to the EPA,
26:09
Speaker 1: and reported that the data was normal. Just as a
26:13
Speaker 1: general rule, when there's compounds that are being leaked out
26:16
Speaker 1: of a train that I can hardly even pronounce... Probably
26:20
Speaker 1: not the kind of place where I'm going to want
26:21
Speaker 1: my family. Work continues to clear the crash site. The
26:26
Speaker 1: train's operator, Norfolk Southern, is scrapping and removing rail cars
26:31
Speaker 1: at the derailment location, excavating contaminated areas, removing contaminated liquids
26:36
Speaker 1: from affected storm drains, and staging recovered waste for transportation
26:42
Speaker 1: to an approved disposal facility, the EPA.
26:44
Speaker 2: Said on Sunday.
26:46
Speaker 1: Air monitoring and sampling will continue until removal of heavily
26:50
Speaker 1: contaminated soil in the derailment area is complete and odors
26:54
Speaker 1: subside in the community, the agency said. So every minute
26:59
Speaker 1: that this stuff is left in the soil is another
27:01
Speaker 1: minute that it's seeping down and getting into the groundwater,
27:05
Speaker 1: getting into the soil, and contaminating the whole entire area.
27:10
Speaker 1: Calls for accountability mount. U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg sent
27:16
Speaker 1: a letter Sunday to Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw demanding
27:20
Speaker 1: accountability and calling.
27:22
Speaker 2: For greater safety regulations. The people of.
27:25
Speaker 1: East Palestine cannot be forgotten, nor can their pain be
27:28
Speaker 1: simply considered the cost of doing business, Buttigieg wrote to
27:32
Speaker 1: the railway's chief executive.
27:34
Speaker 2: All of these.
27:35
Speaker 1: Fancy words, but where are the administration representatives on the
27:39
Speaker 1: ground here? You have previously indicated to me that you
27:43
Speaker 1: are committed to meeting your responsibilities to this community, but
27:47
Speaker 1: it is clear that area residents are not satisfied with
27:50
Speaker 1: the information, presence, and support they are getting from Norfolk
27:54
Speaker 1: Southern in the aftermath and recovery, Buttigieg added. Brown has
27:59
Speaker 1: pledged to hold the rail company accountable for the impacts
28:03
Speaker 1: of the community, saying in a news conference, we would
28:06
Speaker 1: make sure Norfolk Southern does what it says it's going
28:09
Speaker 1: to do, what it's promised. All the cleanup, All the drilling,
28:13
Speaker 1: all the testing, all the hotel stays, all of that
28:17
Speaker 1: is on Norfolk Southern. They caused it. There's no question
28:20
Speaker 1: they caused it. Brown said adding the total cost could
28:23
Speaker 1: amount to either tens or hundreds of millions of dollars.
28:26
Speaker 2: They got the money. How much money did they make
28:29
Speaker 2: last year? Oh, that's right. It's in the billions.
28:33
Speaker 1: Norfolk Southern's CEO posted an open letter Saturday telling East
28:37
Speaker 1: Palestine residents, I hear you and we are here to stay.
28:41
Speaker 1: as long as it takes to ensure your safety and
28:44
Speaker 1: to help East Palestine recover and thrive. Together with local
28:48
Speaker 1: health officials, we have implemented a comprehensive testing program to
28:52
Speaker 1: ensure the safety of East Palestine's water, air, and soil.
28:56
Speaker 1: Shah said in the letter, adding that the company also
28:59
Speaker 1: started a $ 1 million fund as a down payment on
29:02
Speaker 1: our commitment to help rebuild. Oh, a whole $ 1 million,
29:06
Speaker 1: is it? Boy, are you guys fantastic. Destroy the whole
29:09
Speaker 1: entire town and then a measly $ 1 million to start
29:14
Speaker 1: a fund here, that's certainly not going to do it.
29:17
Speaker 1: And Norfolk Southern is certainly going to have to do better.
29:20
Speaker 1: But the residents of East Palestine, they're not comfortable about
29:23
Speaker 1: what's going on. And they don't feel safe. And they
29:26
Speaker 1: don't feel like they're getting the whole story. So we're
29:30
Speaker 1: going to continue to cover this on a daily basis
29:33
Speaker 1: as this gigantic environmental tragedy continues to unfold. All right, folks,
29:39
Speaker 1: that's going to do it for this one. All of
29:41
Speaker 1: the information that goes with this episode can be found
29:45
Speaker 1: in the description box. What's up, everyone? And welcome back
29:49
Speaker 1: to the program. The situation down in East Palestine is
29:53
Speaker 1: not getting any better. And the fact that people continue
29:57
Speaker 1: to get sick is is very, very alarming. Now we're
30:01
Speaker 1: getting reports that residents who live near the derailment, they're
30:05
Speaker 1: coming down with all kinds of ailments, including bronchitis. And
30:09
Speaker 1: these are people that have never had these ailments before.
30:13
Speaker 1: Now all of a sudden, they're not feeling well, they're
30:15
Speaker 1: having trouble breathing, and a whole multitude of other issues
30:20
Speaker 1: piled on top of it. And we're what, a couple
30:23
Speaker 1: of weeks in? Can you imagine the long-term consequences of
30:27
Speaker 1: all of this? And I know there's people out there
30:30
Speaker 1: that are downplaying it like it's not that big of
30:32
Speaker 1: a deal, but I don't know what they're watching here.
30:35
Speaker 1: And anyone who's doing that for the sake of politics
30:38
Speaker 1: is a piece of garbage.
30:40
Speaker 2: This isn't about politics.
30:42
Speaker 1: This is about people who are suffering in East Palestine
30:45
Speaker 1: and they're going to have their whole lives ruined. How
30:49
Speaker 1: much do you think those houses are going to be
30:51
Speaker 1: worth in East Palestine now? I just read an article
30:54
Speaker 1: about this family who planned on moving, and now those
30:57
Speaker 1: plans are all shot because nobody's going to buy the house.
31:01
Speaker 1: So now instead, these folks are going to be stuck
31:03
Speaker 1: there sipping on chemical cocktail water. And where's the response
31:07
Speaker 1: from the government? I mean, it's been piss poor at best,
31:11
Speaker 1: and I don't care what side of the political aisle
31:13
Speaker 1: you fall on. How is it that It took so
31:16
Speaker 1: long for Pete Buttigieg to get his ass.
31:18
Speaker 2: Down to East Palestine.
31:20
Speaker 1: And then when he gets down there to flop and
31:22
Speaker 1: bomb the way he did, the people of East Palestine
31:24
Speaker 1: deserve better. Today's article is from NBC News headline. Residents
31:30
Speaker 1: near Ohio train derailment diagnosed with ailments associated with chemical exposure,
31:36
Speaker 1: including bronchitis. Medical professionals suspect that some people's headaches, rashes
31:42
Speaker 1: and respiratory problems are are related to the release of
31:46
Speaker 1: hazardous chemicals in East Palestine. This article was authored by
31:51
Speaker 1: Aria Bendix and Alicia Victoria Lozano. Residents and workers near
31:59
Speaker 1: the site where a train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed this
32:02
Speaker 1: month have been diagnosed with bronchitis and other conditions that
32:06
Speaker 1: doctors and nurses suspect are linked to medical exposure.
32:11
Speaker 2: But everything's fine. Move back to your home. It's okay.
32:14
Speaker 1: Have a little of that water, make your pancakes, have
32:17
Speaker 1: that coffee, and shut your mouth. That's basically what the
32:21
Speaker 1: government's telling these poor people. Melissa Blake, who lives within
32:25
Speaker 1: a mile of the crash site in East Palestine, Ohio,
32:28
Speaker 1: said she started coughing up gray mucus and was struggling
32:31
Speaker 1: to breathe on February 5th, two days after the Norfolk
32:34
Speaker 1: Southern train derailed.
32:36
Speaker 2: That day, she.
32:37
Speaker 1: Evacuated her home and also went to the emergency room
32:41
Speaker 1: where she was diagnosed with acute bronchitis due to chemical fumes,
32:46
Speaker 1: according to medical records reviewed by NBC News. And let's
32:50
Speaker 1: remember the EPA says that vinyl chloride is so dangerous
32:54
Speaker 1: that you shouldn't be exposed to it at all, ever.
32:57
Speaker 1: That's how dangerous it is. And these people are breathing
33:00
Speaker 1: it in. God knows how much of it has seeped
33:03
Speaker 1: into the soil and into the water. I know the
33:07
Speaker 1: geniuses on site have other things to tell us, but
33:10
Speaker 1: I don't believe them. I'll just be straight up with
33:12
Speaker 1: you and tell you I don't believe them. They gave
33:15
Speaker 1: me a breathing machine. They put me on oxygen. They
33:18
Speaker 1: gave me three types of steroids, Blake said. She has
33:22
Speaker 1: yet to move back home since being discharged nearly three
33:25
Speaker 1: weeks ago. And if I could afford it, if I
33:27
Speaker 1: was her, I wouldn't be going back home at all.
33:30
Speaker 1: I mean, that's how serious this situation is, in my opinion.
33:35
Speaker 1: And I think that having more caution here is a
33:37
Speaker 1: better idea than going willy-nilly and just believing what the
33:41
Speaker 1: government has to say to you. I mean, history has
33:43
Speaker 1: shown us that just following along blindly whenever there's a
33:47
Speaker 1: disaster like this usually has terrible, terrible implications for the populace.
33:54
Speaker 1: At SerumFab, a manufacturing company adjacent to the derailment site,
33:58
Speaker 1: five of its ten workers were too sick to work
34:01
Speaker 1: as of Tuesday, according to General Manager Howard Yang. Everything's
34:05
Speaker 1: fine down here, though, folks. No big deal whatsoever. It's
34:09
Speaker 1: all propaganda. Yang said the company suspended operations for about
34:13
Speaker 1: a week because of the derailment and subsequent release of
34:17
Speaker 1: vinyl chloride, a carcinogenic chemical, on board the train. that
34:21
Speaker 1: was intentionally burned to avoid the risk of an explosion.
34:25
Speaker 1: Yang's employees resumed work on February 13th, he said, but
34:30
Speaker 1: after about two days, they started dropping like flies. And
34:33
Speaker 1: that's just a few days of having this shit in
34:35
Speaker 1: the air. So I don't know how anyone's confident to
34:39
Speaker 1: come out here and tell the people of East Palestine
34:41
Speaker 1: that everything's fine. Meanwhile, the facts on the ground certainly
34:44
Speaker 1: don't bear that out. And this isn't the old days
34:47
Speaker 1: where you can make pretend things are good. There's a
34:50
Speaker 1: lot of information out there now. A lot of independent
34:53
Speaker 1: journalists are on the ground. A lot of people who
34:55
Speaker 1: are talking to the actual residents of East Palestine. And
34:59
Speaker 1: those folks, almost to a man and woman, all have
35:02
Speaker 1: serious concerns about what's going on here. People ended up
35:07
Speaker 1: with rashes, nausea, vomiting, bloody nose, eye issues, a lot
35:11
Speaker 1: of coughing, wheezing, he said. We sent out a lot
35:13
Speaker 1: of workers to the hospital to get checked out. And
35:16
Speaker 1: sure enough, in most cases, it was a diagnosis. of
35:20
Speaker 1: chemical bronchitis. They were put on five different kinds of pills,
35:24
Speaker 1: including steroids. Some guys have to use inhalers. It's pretty bad.
35:29
Speaker 1: So if everything's so fine down here, why don't the
35:31
Speaker 1: people who own the company at Norfolk Southern come down
35:34
Speaker 1: here and live?
35:36
Speaker 2: Where's Pete Buttigieg?
35:37
Speaker 1: Why don't you come down here and stay until the
35:39
Speaker 1: cleanup is done? Show us that you're committed. None of
35:43
Speaker 1: them will though, right? What they hope is the news
35:46
Speaker 1: cycle moves on And they can forget about the people
35:50
Speaker 1: of East Palestine. That's what they're hoping. But I don't
35:52
Speaker 1: think that's going to work out this time. And you
35:55
Speaker 1: know when Erin Brockovich shows up and she starts going ham,
35:58
Speaker 1: that you're in big trouble. NBC News could not independently
36:03
Speaker 1: verify the workers' diagnosis. Well, why doesn't NBC News just
36:07
Speaker 1: go to the workers' houses and see the condition that
36:09
Speaker 1: they're in? What do you mean you can't verify the diagnosis?
36:14
Speaker 1: Deborah Weiss, a nurse practitioner at QuickMed Columbiana, one of
36:18
Speaker 1: the closest urgent care clinics to East Palestine, said she
36:21
Speaker 1: has listed exposure to potentially hazardous chemicals as a possible
36:26
Speaker 1: cause of bronchitis or other ailments for patients who live
36:30
Speaker 1: or work near the crash site. So if they already
36:32
Speaker 1: have bronchitis, what's that going to turn into down the road?
36:36
Speaker 1: And how many of you would be comfortable living in
36:39
Speaker 1: a place where this shit is permeating the air? My
36:42
Speaker 1: guess is not very many of us. We said she
36:46
Speaker 1: has been seeing five to 10 people a day from
36:48
Speaker 1: the area who have symptoms consistent with chemical exposure. They're
36:53
Speaker 1: complaining of burning to their lungs, nasal drainage, eyes burning,
36:56
Speaker 1: throat pain, unknown rashes that have started since they've been
37:00
Speaker 1: back to their homes, she said.
37:02
Speaker 2: Oh, shocking.
37:04
Speaker 1: They were told they can go back to their homes.
37:05
Speaker 1: Everything's safe. But when they show up, they start exhibiting
37:09
Speaker 1: all of these symptoms of chemical exposure. But everything's cool, right?
37:13
Speaker 1: It's amazing to me that they're trying to run this
37:16
Speaker 1: narrative that everything is fine down there when it's obviously not.
37:21
Speaker 1: Bronchitis is characterized by inflamed airways that often lead to
37:25
Speaker 1: coughing and wheezing. It is usually caused by a virus,
37:28
Speaker 1: but chemical bronchitis is caused by inhaling chemical irritants, according
37:33
Speaker 1: to Dr. John Balms, a professor of medicine at the
37:36
Speaker 1: University of California, San Francisco, and spokesman for the American
37:40
Speaker 1: Lung Association. Whenever you burn chlorinated compounds, you get really
37:45
Speaker 1: nasty materials that are capable of causing chemical bronchitis, Baum said.
37:51
Speaker 1: He added that the severity depends on the amount of
37:53
Speaker 1: chemicals inhaled and whether people have pre-existing conditions like asthma.
37:58
Speaker 1: Most people see their symptoms resolve within a few weeks
38:01
Speaker 1: to a couple of months, and long-term effects are unlikely,
38:05
Speaker 1: except in high-risk patients, according to Baum's, unless of course
38:08
Speaker 1: they continuously are sucking this shit up in the air.
38:12
Speaker 1: in their homes, in the soil, in their bathrooms when
38:15
Speaker 1: they're taking a shower. I love how people are so
38:18
Speaker 1: cavalier about this shit, and I guess it's easy to
38:20
Speaker 1: be like that if you're not the one that has
38:22
Speaker 1: to live here. Apart from breathing issues, some local residents
38:27
Speaker 1: have reported headaches, nausea, and rashes. These can be symptoms
38:32
Speaker 1: of chemical exposure, according to the Center for Disease Control
38:36
Speaker 1: and Prevention, which has sent a team to East Palestine
38:39
Speaker 1: to interview residents and investigate... Potential health issues starting Monday.
38:44
Speaker 1: But it's difficult for doctors to make direct links between
38:47
Speaker 1: these elements and particular chemicals. Well, that makes it easy
38:51
Speaker 1: for the rail company and the government to end up
38:53
Speaker 1: screwing these people, right? Ah, there's nothing wrong with you.
38:56
Speaker 1: Just like they tried to do to the 9-11 workers.
39:01
Speaker 1: There's no lab test. There's no imaging test. It's really
39:04
Speaker 1: just a clinical suspicion of what it could be. It's
39:07
Speaker 1: certainly reasonable to say if you have a rash, dry
39:10
Speaker 1: skin or dry eyes, dry nose, that it could be related.
39:14
Speaker 1: There really isn't any way for us to tell for sure. Unfortunately,
39:17
Speaker 1: said Dr. James Kravich, the chief clinical officer at Mercy
39:22
Speaker 1: Health in Youngstown and Lorain, Ohio. So you know what
39:25
Speaker 1: that means, right? This rail company and the government, they're
39:29
Speaker 1: going to say, well, we can't prove that this came
39:32
Speaker 1: from this chemical exposure. So you're not getting any money.
39:36
Speaker 2: Wait and see.
39:37
Speaker 1: That's going to be one of the lines that Norfolk
39:40
Speaker 1: Southern tries to use to make sure that they don't
39:43
Speaker 1: have to pay out a bunch of dough.
39:45
Speaker 2: I can see it already.
39:46
Speaker 1: Well, we know that you're exhibiting these signs, but we
39:49
Speaker 1: can't trace it directly back to the chemical spill, so
39:52
Speaker 1: we're not liable for what happened to you. And that's
39:56
Speaker 1: the sort of absurd shit you see all the time, unfortunately.
40:00
Speaker 1: The Mercy Health Network includes a primary care office in
40:03
Speaker 1: East Palestine and a hospital 20 minutes outside of the town.
40:08
Speaker 1: Kravich said the network had seen more patients from East
40:11
Speaker 1: Palestine in the past few weeks than it had over
40:14
Speaker 1: the past few months. Oral or topical steroids are usually
40:19
Speaker 1: the first line of treatment for people with rashes from
40:22
Speaker 1: chemical exposure, he said. The full scope of health consequences
40:26
Speaker 1: related to the crash is not yet known. Some people
40:29
Speaker 1: in East Palestine are having reported feeling ill but have
40:33
Speaker 1: not yet seen a doctor or and some long-term effects
40:36
Speaker 1: of chemical exposure, such as cancer, can take decades to manifest.
40:41
Speaker 1: And that's what they're hoping. They know that the news
40:43
Speaker 1: cycle moves fast. So hopefully, in their opinion, they want
40:47
Speaker 1: to get this out of the news cycle as fast
40:49
Speaker 1: as possible so they can start forgetting about it. As
40:54
Speaker 1: of Monday, the Environmental Protection Agency said East Palestine's municipal
40:59
Speaker 1: water was safe to drink. Indoor air quality for more
41:03
Speaker 1: than 550 homes did not exceed safety standards, and air
41:07
Speaker 1: quality in the community remains normal, the EPA said. I
41:11
Speaker 1: wonder if these were the same guys down at the
41:14
Speaker 1: World Trade Center site telling everybody things were fine. Norfolk
41:19
Speaker 1: Southern Rail said in a statement that it is committed
41:23
Speaker 1: to doing what's right for the residents of East Palestine.
41:26
Speaker 1: The company has offered $ 8 million in donations or financial
41:30
Speaker 1: assistance thus far, including $ 3. 4 million for local families and
41:35
Speaker 1: a $ 1 million community assistance fund. It is also committed
41:39
Speaker 1: to paying for all cleanup costs and continuing to test air, water,
41:44
Speaker 1: and soil. Aw, how magnanimous of them. These dudes come
41:48
Speaker 1: in and basically blow this town up with a chemical bomb,
41:52
Speaker 1: and now they put a million dollars into a fund
41:54
Speaker 1: and everybody should stand up and cheer for them?
41:57
Speaker 2: Vafangul!
41:58
Speaker 1: You sons of bitches caused this bullshit. And a million dollars?
42:02
Speaker 1: Where I'm from, we call that a short envelope. If
42:06
Speaker 1: residents have or are experiencing symptoms with which they're not accustomed,
42:12
Speaker 1: we would strongly encourage them to go see a trusted
42:14
Speaker 1: medical professional or visit the new health clinic that local, state,
42:18
Speaker 1: and federal officials are standing up in East Palestine. a
42:22
Speaker 1: Norfolk Southern spokesperson said. Oh, great advice. Sage advice from
42:27
Speaker 1: the people who came in and poisoned the whole town.
42:30
Speaker 1: We said some of her patients have demonstrated signs of
42:33
Speaker 1: continued chemical exposure. When they go back home, their symptoms
42:37
Speaker 1: get worse or their lungs are burning more or they
42:40
Speaker 1: feel like they can't catch their breath. Those kinds of things.
42:43
Speaker 1: So it's showing consistently that when they leave, they're better.
42:47
Speaker 1: When they go back home, they feel worse, she said. Well,
42:50
Speaker 1: what does that say to you? Tells me that what's
42:53
Speaker 1: going on in people's homes is not good. But if
42:57
Speaker 1: you listen to the official narrative, everything's fine, you can
43:00
Speaker 1: go back home, and it's no big deal. Well, that's
43:03
Speaker 1: what they're telling us. But the results of people getting sick,
43:06
Speaker 1: that's showing us that what they're telling us is absolute bullshit.
43:11
Speaker 1: Salem Regional Medical Center, where Blake received care, said that
43:15
Speaker 1: as of Wednesday, its emergency department had seen about 10
43:19
Speaker 1: patients since the train derailment, who reported symptoms like sore
43:22
Speaker 1: throats or respiratory issues. Wendy Snyder, a registered nurse who
43:27
Speaker 1: lives in East Palestine, said she had experienced a sore
43:30
Speaker 1: throat and a metallic taste in her mouth, which her
43:34
Speaker 1: doctor said certainly seems related to her chemical exposure, according
43:38
Speaker 1: to a physician's note reviewed by NBC News. So NBC
43:42
Speaker 1: is out here, won't even believe people about their symptoms, right? Oh,
43:46
Speaker 1: I'm going to need to see a doctor's note. Man,
43:48
Speaker 1: shut up, NBC. Do your job and shut up. Quit
43:51
Speaker 1: trying to run cover for your pals in government. Snyder
43:55
Speaker 1: said her headaches improved when she goes to work at
43:58
Speaker 1: the hospital in Pennsylvania, about 20 miles from her house.
44:02
Speaker 2: I don't feel safe in my own home, she said.
44:04
Speaker 2: I'm afraid to be here.
44:05
Speaker 1: So again, I ask you, do you believe the experts
44:09
Speaker 1: or do you believe the people who are actually going
44:11
Speaker 1: through it?
44:12
Speaker 2: Me, I'll always defer to the people.
44:15
Speaker 1: At a Senate hearing in Pennsylvania on Thursday, Lonnie Miller,
44:19
Speaker 1: who has lived in East Palestine for nearly 30 years,
44:22
Speaker 1: said she has developed a rash on her face and
44:24
Speaker 1: experienced dizziness and burning in her eyes. Her home is
44:28
Speaker 1: located roughly one-third of a mile from the derailment site,
44:31
Speaker 1: she said. One of my very best friends has been
44:35
Speaker 1: diagnosed already with chemical bronchitis because she lives right next
44:38
Speaker 1: to the creek, Miller said at the hearing, referring to
44:41
Speaker 1: one of the town's contaminated waterways. Just chew on that
44:45
Speaker 1: for a minute, okay? One of the town's contaminated waterways.
44:50
Speaker 1: That's plural. Melissa Boyer, who lives less than 250 feet
44:55
Speaker 1: from the derailment site, said her 19-year-old daughter is having
44:59
Speaker 1: difficulty breathing and has to use an inhaler several times
45:02
Speaker 1: a day. Boyer said herself has had a persistent headache
45:07
Speaker 1: and burning sensation in her mouth. On her medical chart,
45:10
Speaker 1: under issues addressed, her doctor wrote toxic effect of gas exposure.
45:15
Speaker 2: How can you say our air quality or our water quality.
45:18
Speaker 1: Is safe when we're having all these people with these
45:22
Speaker 1: symptoms and health issues, Boyer said. And that's really what
45:25
Speaker 1: it comes down to. Folks, they're trying to package you
45:29
Speaker 1: a narrative that is not meeting the reality on the ground.
45:33
Speaker 1: And I would suggest very, very, very strongly to make
45:37
Speaker 1: sure that you're aware of that when you're reading news
45:39
Speaker 1: about what's going on down here.
45:41
Speaker 2: And anyone who's downplaying.
45:43
Speaker 1: This issue, You have to question their motivation as to
45:46
Speaker 1: why they would do something such as that. Because from
45:49
Speaker 1: where I'm sitting, this certainly is not an issue that
45:52
Speaker 1: should be downplayed. This should be tackled head-on, and people
45:56
Speaker 1: who are responsible, meaning jerk-offs in the rail company, well,
46:00
Speaker 1: they need to be held responsible for this nonsense. And
46:03
Speaker 1: if that means criminal liability, then so be it. But
46:07
Speaker 1: the whole entire response... And the narrative that's being crafted
46:11
Speaker 1: like this isn't a big deal is not only gross,
46:14
Speaker 1: it's offensive. And anyone who's pushing that narrative, they should
46:18
Speaker 1: be called out and challenged on it. And my challenge
46:22
Speaker 1: would be this. If everything is so safe, go get
46:25
Speaker 1: yourself a tent, pitch that tent next to one of
46:28
Speaker 1: these waterways, and then get back to me in a
46:30
Speaker 1: couple of days.
46:31
Speaker 2: But you know they won't do it.
46:33
Speaker 1: Instead, they'll talk about how people are overblowing it, how
46:36
Speaker 1: it's not that big of a deal, and all of
46:38
Speaker 1: the jerk-offs will come out of the woodwork and politicize things. Meanwhile,
46:43
Speaker 1: the people of East Palestine are suffering, they're sick, and
46:47
Speaker 1: not only do they want answers, they deserve them. And
46:51
Speaker 1: until those answers are provided and the help that these
46:55
Speaker 1: people need is given to them, you better believe we're
46:58
Speaker 1: going to continue to talk about this topic on the podcast.
47:01
Speaker 1: All right, folks, that's going to do it for this one.
47:04
Speaker 1: All of the information that goes with the episode can
47:07
Speaker 1: be found in the description box.