Residents, rail workers fight toxic effects of Ohio disaster – The Militant

[....] Rail workers — who have more than enough familiarity with the disdain for the conditions they labor under and the effects that has on working people who live by the tracks — are discussing the need for union control over rail operations.

Militant worker-correspondents met Tish McDevitt, who lives in Negley, just south of East Palestine, Feb. 25. She was told to evacuate when the railroad was going to drain and burn toxic vinyl chloride from derailed tank cars that threatened to explode. “But now we’re told we’re not eligible for any aid for the evacuation or the aftermath of the fire,” she said. Leslie Run Creek, which carried spilled chemicals down to the Ohio River, runs through Negley. “And we are worried sick about the safety of our well water. Maybe it tests ‘safe’ today. What about after the chemicals have time to seep into the ground?”

Diana Elzer, a co-owner of Sutherin greenhouse where McDevitt works, said, “No one blames the crew of that train. It was the greed of the company that caused it. Why couldn’t the company say what the train was carrying? It was days before the Environmental Protection Agency released the information on the other chemicals that were spilled.”

In fact, the first responders on the scene after the derailment and fire broke out — who weren’t issued hazmat suits or respirators to protect themselves — knew nothing about what was burning or being released into the air. Days later it became clear that hazardous chemical placards on dangerous tank cars melted in the fire....

Residents, rail workers fight toxic effects of Ohio disaster – The Militant