East Palestine — Residents living in East Palestine and in neighboring communities are concerned about their health, as the cleaning continues at the scene of the train’s derailment as well as the controlled chemical fire.
The public is revealing the many symptoms they are unable to explain and are expressing their fears about what they fear most.
Therese Vigliotti told the Times that she was feeling unwell following the control release, and the burn following the train car derailment over one week in the past.
She sent us a photograph of her tongue.
“I noticed that my lips were numb, my lips’ soft palates were completely numb, my tongue burned, and my throat had a burning sensation” Vigliotti claimed.
We asked her about her top issue was.
“That I’m likely to contract cancer and then die,” Vigliotti said.
Vigliotti isn’t from East Palestine but rather 15 miles to the north of the Derailment Site within Poland, Ohio.
Jim does not call the village home.
Train horns can be heard on his porch.
“It was not a problem before, but it is now a bother for me with my hearing, but it now has,” Jim said.
He is also worried about what he’s going through.
“I’ve suffered from migraine. I’ve felt dizzy and my mucus membranes are all were irritated. I’ve not felt good since then,” Jim said.
The other thing that irritates him, according to him, is the absence of information on the long-term effects of the chemicals that pose a risk to the cars that have left the tracks.
“My wife had cancer in the past. I’m concerned about carcinogens, as well as the pollution in the water, the air and ground now,” Jim said.
Health concerns were brought up at Governor DeWine’s news event today in Columbus.
the Ohio Department of Health’s chief medical officer Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, responded.
“Unfortunately volatile organic compounds have with a variety of other substances the capability to trigger a variety of symptoms that are more subtle. So headache, eye irritation, nose irritation, etc.. I believe we need to consider the actual facts. The measured facts include an air sample in the area isn’t pointing to an air source to explain the reason,” Vanderhoff said.
There’s a 24-hour monitoring of the air throughout East Palestine. In a statement, the U.S. EPA said it’s assisted in the screening of hundreds of homes and found no evidence of hydrogen or vinyl chloride. It’s also helping Ohio EPA determine the impact the spill caused on groundwater and surface water.
“They’re still pumping water from the creek, but the smell persists,” Garry Allison said.
Allison is the landlord of an apartment situated on East Rebecca in the village.
“The stink is so bad in the apartment that all tenants left,” Allison said.
He claims he’s losing money and needs answers on his property’s cleanliness. He also believes he’s being given the treatment he deserves.
“I do not want anything not mine, but I shouldn’t be forced to accept an oath for someone else’s mistake,” Allison said.
“If we didn’t have us, we wouldn’t have what the real story is,” Allison said.
Vigliotti puts her wellbeing first.
She’s scheduled to see a doctor in the coming week, and she’ll be having the blood tests she’s hoping will bring some peace.
“I’m a mom. I have beautiful children and I’m healthy. There’s nothing wrong with me however, something slipped into my body. My tongue shouldn’t be being like this,” Vigliotti said.
News 5 Investigators reached out certain hospitals located near East Palestine. Salem Regional Medical told us five patients visited the ER to date with self-reported symptoms such as respiratory problems.
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