'I'm Begging You...Get Our People Out of Here': East Palestine Residents Erupt at Town Hall

Matt Vespa / Townhall Tipsheet

Norfolk Southern sent a representative to attend a town hall event in East Palestine, Ohio, the site of the recent toxic train crash, and the reception was anything but warm. This event was a sacrificial lamb situation since no one had any of what this representative had to say, with any remarks of empathy and regret falling on deaf ears. CBS News captured some snippets of the event, where locals unleashed on the company whose train derailment has left residents fearful. The drinking water might be unsafe. We don’t know the condition of the soil, and the Biden administration has been criminally lethargic in its response. 

Let’s not forget that it took them almost three weeks to finally release federal assistance and get Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to the area.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Environmental Protection Agency are present, but updates on the situation are not regularly, leading to high anxiety. Joe Biden will probably not step into the town due to its political leanings; it voted 70 percent for Trump. 

Workers at the crash site are filling ill, with even more troubling reports that inadequate protective gear was provided. These rail workers have little to no experience handling toxic chemicals. Simple items, like gloves, were not readily available, adding to the narrative of gross incompetence that infests this administration. Buttigieg’s soporific reaction to the crash is even more alarming since this sort of screw-up could endanger presidential ambition, which I’m sure he still harbors. Blaming Trump isn’t going to cut it. He’s already done that, and it’s fallen flat. The cleanup will take years, though townsfolk in East Palestine and nearby Darlington, Pennsylvania, is less than 10 miles away, and other surrounding localities are at a loss. 

They can’t move, and their government appears to not care about them, blithely telling them all is well. Evidently not, as people in the immediate area are getting sick.

“I’m begging you. By the grace of God, please get our people out of here,” screamed one East Palestine resident.

Heidi Paparella’s daughters have fallen ill since the crash, with one developing a rash and now relegated to using an inhaler.

To those outside of East Palestine, Ms. Paparella directly said, “I want them to know that we’re not okay; the air and stuff is not okay.”