EAST PALESTINE, Ohio (WKBN) — A year after last February’s toxic train derailment in East Palestine — where hundreds of firefighters from dozens of departments raced to contain the flames and chemicals — there is still no system in place allowing first responders to communicate with each other.
“We should be able to communicate with any county coming in, and state coming in, and that’s a problem that needs addressed,” said Fire Chief Keith Drabick, with the East Palestine Department. “The funding needs to be found somewhere to make this project go through.”
Village leaders met with reporters Friday morning to discuss what has happened since the derailment and what they’d like to see in the future.
The fire chief says there is now a system in place for Norfolk Southern Railroad to immediately notify first responders about possible contamination from future derailments across the country.
“I challenge any railroad — but specifically the Class 1’s — to step up and join in and make this information accessible to the responders,” Drabick said.
Officials also defended the remediation and cleanup that’s been done over the last 12 months, as well as the continuing process of testing for possible contamination — telling reporters the same standards used to ensure their own water is safe is what’s being used locally.
“The people staying at the hotels that are afraid to come back, are using water tested by the same facilities that are testing the water for here,” Drabick said.
“They don’t play. I mean, it’s serious, and if there’s a problem, they’ll shut it down,” says Chad Edwards, East Palestine city manager. “You’ll know about it, and right now, there’s no problem.”
It’s a message officials hope the community understands.
Mayor Trent Conaway told reporters what he would like to see in his community five years from now.
“We still want to keep our small-town feel, but it’d be nice to have some more development and stuff come into town,” Conaway said.
The mayor, city manager and fire chief discussed what’s happened over the last year to get the town back on its feet physically and economically: The creation of a community improvement corporation that can help with future economic development over the next year.
Edwards, who started working here after the wreck, admits the process won’t happen overnight. In the meantime, officials and residents alike admit their biggest obstacle to progress has been what they call misinformation about their town.
“There are still people that have concerns. We acknowledge them, we don’t downplay any of that — but at the same time, there’s good stuff here, and that’s what we’re going to promote,” Drabick said.
To that end, the village now has a new logo and website to promote what’s happening, as well as a community newsletter. But the mayor admits he still has not heard specifics on when President Joe Biden will accept his invitation and make good on a promise to see the town for himself.
“He should have beat former President Trump here, but he didn’t,” Conaway said. “Now, we’re just a year later, and he’s going to come visit.”
Officials offered those there Friday a similar invitation.
“We hope you all will come back again in a year and see us and see the progress we’ve made,” Edwards said.