Federal, state, local officials host press conference detailing latest information after train derailment

East Palestine, Ohio (KDKA) – Three weeks after a Norfolk-south train derailed near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border, federal, state and local authorities on the ground in East Palestine are working together.

The Biden administration on Saturday directed federal employees to contact families affected by the crash for support and outreach as they continue to recover. The KDKA also had the opportunity for the first time to ask questions of certain federal officials.

The federal response is expanding in the village as FEMA and the CDC ramp up their response efforts.

Thomas Sivak is the administrator of FEMA Region 5.

“We see you. We hear you and [we] are here to help,” Sivak said. “Our teams went to four states with fixed locations throughout the community and worked with the community emergency response team that was out there.”

Jill Shugart, team leader for the CDC and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, said they have a team going door-to-door across the community on Saturday to educate residents about a chemical exposure survey, a Assessment collecting information including health symptoms.

“Some demographic information and if they were in the area at the time of the incident, if they were evacuated,” Shugart said.

US EPA Region 5 Administrator Debra Shore said her agency has conducted 574 reentry screenings so far and continues to monitor air quality at 15 stations. She said the air and water are still at safe levels.

Also, she adds, the EPA has temporarily stopped Norfolk-Southern from disposing of waste from the derailment as they verify that the company is doing so legally and safely.

“One thing that was made clear to me is that everyone wants this contamination to go away from the community,” Shore said. “They don’t want to worry, and they don’t want the smell, and we owe it to the people of East Palestine to remove it from the community as soon as possible.”

Going forward, disposal sites and transportation routes will be subject to review and approval by the federal agency EPA as part of the regulatory order the agency issued last week to bring the situation under control.

Questions Remain – Why do people and their animals get sick when air and water are declared safe?

The CDC could not provide a clear answer.

“We understand that a lot of hazardous materials were spilled in the incident. However, we really need to look at the data a little more closely,” Shugart said.

And what about the ground under the train tracks at the same time?

The company has just started the remediation process, but only after receiving feedback questioning its decision to continue operations.

Federal Railroad Administration Deputy Administrator Mikel Cipollini had difficulty answering.

KDKA’s Lauren Linder asked him, “Why wasn’t the floor removed and treated first before getting those tracks working again?”

Cipollini stood at a loss for seven seconds before answering.

“I don’t know, I mean, it’s not part of the plan to fix the derailment and all that stuff, so now that they’ve done all these cleanups, they’re going to come back now and probably do a full-fledged capital program to redo everything do,” said Cipollini.

Officials said their goal is for federal teams to knock on at least 400 homes by Monday.