When Feb. 3 dawned, East Palestine was like most small communities in America—the kind of place where everyone seems to know everyone, high school football Friday nights are like holidays, and families have lived for generations.
That comfort and nostalgia abruptly changed by around 9 p.m. when a Norfolk Southern Railway freight train carrying 151 cars derailed in this village of 4,761 in eastern Ohio near the Pennsylvania border.
Since then, East Palestine and surrounding communities have been coping with the aftermath, including the release of thousands of gallons of toxic chemicals, as local, state, and federal officials and agencies have been trying to determine both short-term and long-term courses of action….