EAST PALESTINE, Ohio—Hours after being told she could go home for the first time since a train hauling chemicals derailed and later sent up a toxic plume near the Pennsylvania state line, Melissa Henry nervously walked inside her house.
First, she washed her sheets and pillow cases. Then she started throwing out everything left on her kitchen counters. She opened all of her windows too, hoping to air out whatever might have seeped inside while fearful of the air outside too.
“Was that the right thing to do or not? You just don’t know,” she said Thursday. “It was a nightmare, it still is.”…