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'It's hard to breathe': East Palestine residents detail harrowing illnesses after toxic train derailment

Locals are furious over what they say has been a lack of real information and help from both local officials and the Biden administration
UPDATED FEB 26, 2023
Ohio residents are complaining of severe lung ilnesses after devastating train drailment (Screenshot/VICE News YouTube)
Ohio residents are complaining of severe lung ilnesses after devastating train drailment (Screenshot/VICE News YouTube)

EAST PALESTINE, OHIO: Earlier this month, a train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in eastern Ohio, burst into flames and released a deadly cloud of chemical smoke in the small town of East Palestine. The load reportedly contained vinyl chloride, a dangerous chemical known to cause liver cancer and other illnesses. Residents of Ohio town are now experiencing bronchitis, lung problems and skin rashes following the devastating train derailment. 

Some residents reported being diagnosed with bronchitis and other illnesses this month that doctors and nurses suspect are related to chemical exposure. A resident who lives within a mile of the crash site says that "she started coughing up gray mucus and was struggling to breathe just two days following the devastating crash," reports Fox News

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'It’s hard to breathe'

The evacuation orders were lifted on February 8, but many residents reported getting unexplained rashes and sore throats when they returned home. The streams that crisscross the town still ripple with the telltale colors of contamination.

One of the locals, Wade Lovett claims he is facing breathing difficulties since the February 3 Norfolk South train derailment and toxic explosion. He says that his voice sounds similar to Mickey Mouse as if he is inhaling helium. “Doctors say I definitely have the chemicals in me but there’s no one in town who can run the toxicological tests to find out which ones they are,” Lovett, 40, an auto detailer, said in an extremely high-pitched voice according to New York Post. “My voice sounds like Mickey Mouse. My normal voice is low. It’s hard to breathe, especially at night. My chest hurts so much at night I feel like I’m drowning. I cough up phlegm a lot. I lost my job because the doctor won’t release me to go to work.”

Despite his health problems, Lovett spent last Thursday, February 23, with his fiancee, Tawnya Irwin, 45, delivering bottled water to locals. A 46-year-old resident of East Palestine, Jami Cozza, who says his 47 close relatives here, is trying to lead from the front during this time.

Locals praise Jami Cozza's efforts

Jami Cozza has received praise from many locals who have described him as "fierce and forceful." "I’ve known Jami my whole life and she is very sharp,” Jason Trosky, 47, a lifelong East Palestine resident told the outlet. “We’re lucky to have her. Brockovich came with her lawyer in tow. Will she help? Maybe, but she’s also trying to stay relevant. Jami will be here for us after the circus leaves town.”

Cozza, who lived in this small Ohio Valley village near the Pennsylvania border for most of her life, has her work cut out for her. The tearful resident said how his widowed grandmother, 91, tried to clean the chemicals off the furniture in the house she’s lived in for 56 years before giving up and moving to a hotel room where she is unable to sleep at night. “My fiancé was so sick that I almost took him to the hospital,” Cozza told the outlet while sitting on the porch of her aunt’s home on East Clark Street. 

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg (2L) visits with Department of Transportation Investigators at the site of the derailment on February 23 2023 in East Palestine, Ohio. Below where he stands is a pile of ash. On February 3rd, a Norfolk Southern Railways train carrying toxic chemicals derailed causing an environmental disaster. Thousands of residents were ordered to evacuate after the area was placed under a state of emergency and temporary evacuation orders
EAST PALESTINE, OHIO, FEBRUARY 23: US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg (2L) visits with Department of Transportation Investigators at the site of the derailment on February 23 2023 in East Palestine, Ohio. Below where he stands is a pile of ash (Brooke LaValley-Pool/Getty Images)

“Not only am I fighting for my family’s life, but I feel like I’m fighting for the whole town’s life. When I’m walking around hearing these stories, they’re not from people. They’re from my family. They’re from my friends that I’ve have grown up with,” she said. “People are desperate right now. We’re dying slowly. They’re poisoning us slowly.”

Petroleum based chemicals float on the top of the water in Leslie Run creek after being agitated from the sediment on the bottom of the creek on February 20, 2023 in East Palestine, Ohio following a train derailment prompting health concerns.  On February 3rd, a Norfolk Southern Railways train carrying toxic chemicals derailed causing an environmental disaster. Thousands of residents were ordered to evacuate after the area was placed under a state of emergency and temporary evacuation orders.
EAST PALESTINE, OHIO, FEBRUARY 20: Petroleum based chemicals float on the top of the water in Leslie Run creek after being agitated from the sediment on the bottom of the creek on February 20, 2023 in East Palestine, Ohio following a train derailment prompting health concerns (Michael Swensen/Getty Images)

People were dropping like flies 

General manager Howard Yang for a nearby manufacturing plant said that his workers were, "dropping like flies" following the train derailment. "People ended up with rashes, nausea, vomiting, bloody nose, eye issues. A lot of coughing, wheezing," he said. "We sent a lot of workers to the hospital to get checked out and, sure enough, in most cases, it was a diagnosis of ‘chemical bronchitis.’ They were put on five different kinds of pills, including steroids. Some guys have to use inhalers. It’s pretty bad," Yang told Fox News

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