Overview
- Officials held a ribbon-cutting in East Palestine to open the East Palestine Train Derailment Health Research Program office at the Way Station.
- NIH says the office will coordinate community engagement and enrollment for federally funded studies on long-term impacts of chemical exposure.
- The EPA reports site-wide cleanup and restoration were completed in January, with the response now in a monitoring and maintenance phase that includes quarterly water sampling.
- The 2023 incident derailed 38 cars, including 11 with hazardous materials, and led to a controlled release and ignition of vinyl chloride from five cars that produced a large smoke plume and prompted evacuations.
- Ohio officials tallied more than 43,700 animal deaths within five miles and Norfolk Southern reported removing about 15,000 pounds of soil and 1.1 million gallons of water, while lawsuits have yielded a $600 million settlement for residents within 30 miles.