'We're Scared, Too': Ohio Residents Press for Answers on Train Derailment at Meeting

Campbell Robertson and Emily Cochrane / The New York Times

East Palestine community holds meeting over health and safety concerns but Norfolk Southern Corporation skips event. (photo: AP)

'We're Scared, Too': Ohio Residents Press for Answers on Train Derailment at Meeting

Campbell Robertson and Emily Cochrane / The New York Times

17 february 23

ALSO SEE: What's Known About the Toxic Plume From the Ohio Train Derailment

Officials for the railroad company pulled out hours earlier, infuriating some residents who said they wanted answers from the company.

Hundreds of Ohio residents gathered in a school gym on Wednesday night to demand answers about the ongoing fallout from a derailed train carrying hazardous chemicals, transforming what had been billed as an informational meeting into a heated town hall where officials with the railroad company didn’t even show up.

The mayor pleaded with the crowd at East Palestine High School to remain civil as they called out questions and occasionally booed after answers. The meeting was the latest effort to quell concerns and ballooning distrust, nearly two weeks after a Norfolk Southern freight train derailed and a controlled burn of chemicals onboard forced residents to evacuate temporarily.

Linda Murphy, 49, who attended the meeting with her husband, Russell, pressed officials about the difficulty of getting her water tested. Dead fish were turning up in a creek near her house, Ms. Murphy said, and the smell of chemicals hung in the air. “I don’t understand how we can have this issue and everything is O.K.”