This article was originally published by Arsenio Toledo at Natural News under the title: More and More East Palestine Residents Reporting Health Issues Following Train Derailment and Toxic Chemical Spill
Residents of East Palestine, Ohio, have been reporting multiple health issues following the Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern train derailment and toxic chemical explosion.
One such resident is Wade Lovett, 40, an auto detailer. Following his return to his community, Lovett’s voice suddenly became extremely high pitched, and a checkup revealed that he “definitely” has chemicals in his system “but there’s no one in town who can run the toxicological tests to find out which ones they are.” (Related: Plan to INJECT toxic Ohio wastewater underground in Texas alarms locals.)
“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,” he said. “I lost my job because the doctor won’t release me to go to work.”
Melissa Blake, another resident who lives less than a mile from the crash site, said she started coughing up gray mucus and began struggling to breathe just two days after the train derailed. She immediately went to the emergency room, where she was diagnosed with acute bronchitis caused by chemical fumes.
“They gave me a breathing machine. They put me on oxygen. They gave me three types of steroids,” said Blake, who has yet to return home since being discharged three weeks ago due to fears about chemical exposure.
Lovett and Blake, like most of East Palestine’s roughly 4,700 residents, are frustrated and furious over what they believe is a lack of real information and concrete aid from both local officials and the federal administration of President Joe Biden.
Leading the charge to fight for East Palestine’s residents is local environmental activist Jami Cozza, 46, who noted in an interview with the New York Post how her 91-year-old widowed grandmother got sick after she tried to clean the chemicals off the furniture in the house she’s lived in for 56 years. Many of her relatives and loved ones have also gotten sick.
“My fiance was so sick that I almost took him to the hospital,” said Cozza, who is worried about the media spotlight on East Palestine fading. She is determined to keep the pressure on once her town is considered “old news.”
“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 family. They’re from my friends that I’ve grown up with,” said Cozza. “People are desperate right now. We’re dying slowly. They’re poisoning us slowly.”
A big part of Cozza and the rest of the town’s battle involves questions regarding Norfolk Southern’s decision to effectively saturate the town with vinyl chloride in a “controlled explosion” and whether that was the correct one or if it was the least expensive option compared to just cleaning up the toxic spill.
Cozza has also organized her neighbors to reject Norfolk Southern’s offers to help the town, such as the $1 million donated to a community assistance fund, an offer to pay for all cleanup costs, continuing to test air, water, and soil, and offering residents $1,000 checks.
“We are at war with corporate greed. We need accountability and we need answers. We are here to make our town safe,” said Cozza during a town hall meeting attended by hundreds of residents. “And by the way, don’t tell us we aren’t getting sick, that it’s all in our head. We are getting sick.”
Learn more about the toxic chemicals in the East Palestine train derailment site at Toxins.news.
Watch this episode of the “Health Ranger Report” as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger talks about the mysterious illnesses popping up in East Palestine after residents were told it was safe for them to return to their homes.