East Palestine—1 Year After the Derailment

Feb. 3, 2024, marks the one-year anniversary of the Norfolk Southern train derailment that changed life forever for the residents of East Palestine, Ohio, and the surrounding area. The derailment of 38 rail cars and the subsequent “controlled release” and burnoff of toxic vinyl chloride was one of the most catastrophic industrial accidents in our country’s history—and a catastrophe of equal or greater proportion could happen again tomorrow, because we have done little to substantively address the issues that caused it. 

While the media and most of the country have forgotten about them, for the people still living in and around East Palestine, life will never be what it was on Feb 2, 2023. "At the one year mark," warns Christa, a resident who has lived in the area her whole life, "I want everybody across the country and across the world to know that this could happen to you... We were an invisible town, an invisible region, and we liked it that way. None of us ever wanted to be on the news... We were very happy being invisible, and then they poisoned our town, and it has changed everything forever." 

To commemorate the anniversary of the East Palestine disaster, we begin Season 7 of Working People with this special compilation episode featuring firsthand testimonies of five East Palestine residents: Christa, Chris Albright, Jessica Albright, Stella Gamble, and Daren Gamble. 

Additional links/info below…

• Jami Wallace, The Inquirer, "One Year Ago, a Train Derailment Upended My Town. I’ll Spend the Rest of My Life Worrying"
• Last Week Tonight, "Freight Trains: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)"
• Emily Baumgaertner, The New York Times, "One Family’s Toxic Train Wreck Ordeal: Illness, Exile and Debt"
• Working People, "12-HR LIVESTREAM: Let’s help East Palestine families have a good Christmas!"
• Savage Joy Marie Mann, "EAST PALESTINE OHIO MUTUAL AID FUNDRAISER"
• Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "They Were Just Another East Palestine Family—Until Norfolk Southern Set Off a Bomb in Their Lives"
• Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "The US Government Has Abandoned East Palestine"
• Maximillian Alvarez, "East Palestine Residents Still Need Help—the Labor Movement Should Be an Ally"
• Savage Joy Marie Mann, "My Full Recording of Meeting with Mark Durno of the East Palestine EPA"
• Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "East Palestine Residents Still Need Help—the Labor Movement Should Be an Ally"
• Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "East Palestine, 100 Days Later"
• Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "East Palestine Residents Have Been Left Behind—and They're Running Out of Wat