On the evening of February 3, 2023, a train running through the 4,800-person town of East Palestine, Ohio, derailed, caught fire, and released a black plume of toxic chemicals in a controlled burnoff.

Trains derail every day in the United States – as the Transportation Secretary was all too eager to remind news anchors when asked why he didn’t say anything about the train derailment in the first two weeks after it happened. But a series of contingencies eventually thrust East Palestine and the railroad industry into the national spotlight.

East Palestine had experienced the consequences of one of America’s oldest and biggest industries (the Pennsylvania Railroad had a bigger budget than the U.S. government in the 19th century) in a spiral of self-destruction. The industry had spent a decade in the “buyback era,” slashing its workforces under the guise of “precision,” shortening safety inspections, and returning ever more cash to investors while allowing derailments to tick up.

But what made the catastrophe the defining event of the news cycle were the failures of the most hated member of the Biden Administration: Harvard graduate and former McKinsey consultant Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

In the wake of the disaster, my publication ran an investigative news story on the history of railroads fighting safety regulations. A lifelong East Palestine Resident, 71-year-old Rob Two-Hawks, emailed me in response to the story, offering media criticism, reporting tips, notes on the town, and tomato-related concerns. He grew up in East Palestine catching crawfish in the rivers now polluted by chemicals, left for a little while, and then returned to help a family member with health issues. The following is quoted directly from our email exchange and has been edited for length. I began by asking him for a picture of his town. – Julia Rock

Just a walk or short drive through this Appalachian town & region would quickly offer a sense: 

IT IS VERY ECONOMICALLY-DISTRESSED AND PREDOMINANTLY RURAL. Much of that relates to the fact that we exist between both PITTSBURGH, Pa. and Youngstown, Oh….both once great STEEL INDUSTRY centers(…“GO-PITTSBURGH-STEELERS.”) // P.S.If you’ve never seen the ’78 movie “THE DEER HUNTER” with Robert DeNiro, Christopher Walken, John Savage and Meryl Streep….you might want to catch that. This region has the same energy…but less mountains. So, many of the cities and towns in this region once supported Big Steel and related satellite industries in various ways (…Coal, Iron Ore from the Great Lakes, Metal-related industries, on & on.) My area also had significant coal deposits and this entire region supplied clay for potteries, refractories, etc. On & on.

Simply…THIS REGION BECAME THE “DUMP-OF-IT-ALL.” In my area alone we have received: NUCLEAR WASTE…MEDICAL WASTE…CONSTRUCTION WASTE…and, of course…you guessed it…TOXIC WASTE. And why not, after all… “OUT-OF-SIGHT… OUT-OF-MIND.”  So, yes…we have become the Unseen, Unnoticed, and Unattended dump-of-it-all for the other big industries and the more sparkling and prosperous cities/areas elsewhere.

And, I’ll bet you can just imagine the POLITICAL MINDSET AND ORIENTATION that all that can generate…and, how the great SWING STATE of OHIO has begun to SHIFT FURTHER & FURTHER…R-E-D. So corrupt politicians like Trump, etc. have made their false promises to support Coal, other Industries or Manufacturing…while the Democrats have moved toward an evermore Environmentally-friendly and Regulation-oriented mindset and position. Of course, I also support the latter…but the Dems have failed to place enough interest in the mindset and the needs of people of distressed regions.

I live within the mile-radius for the evacuation, likely 3/4 mile from the derail. I evacuated for the high school late Sunday afternoon after the Humane Society picked-up my dog. I am disabled and without transportation. Interestingly, I’ve been following the RR story much closer ever since the potential RR union strike in December. I can definitely attest to the length & speed of most trains here because, on foot, I often experience long waits crossing town at the tracks. My next door neighbor is a RR worker…and his work hours are obviously insane. He’s a young man with 4 children and I believe I only spoke with him once last summer/fall.

I didn’t see the fire Fri. night as the view was blocked from here. The next day, beyond the still smoking wreckage…the air definitely had a strange odor (…which I’d describe as “burning plastic.”) Most of the aroma was gone on Sunday. The black plume from the controlled burn was an ugly monstrosity which had the appearance of a smaller black Hiroshima…and after traveling vertically for 100’s of feet….spread-out to cover a huge amount of the eastern sky. The stuff of a horror movie.

My situation here at ground zero is incredibly REAL and very INTENSE…day after day and likely into the future (…if I stay.) Just imagine swimming in a sea where everyone is freaking-out day-after-day….not just part of an army, etc…

People here were getting excited about a “HEALTH CARE CLINIC” this week. I have no idea who or what agency is presenting it…but it’s more than a bit flat & superficial. So, the clinic runs at a local church Tues through Sat. 

Here are the things it WON’T PROVIDE: …Prescriptions…Diagnoses…Blood-Urine or Stool Testing…geez Julia, not even Vital Sign Monitoring. Amazing right…with all these people so worried about their or their childrens’ health? So, what WILL BE PROVIDED? Wowee…Speak with a Nurse or a Toxicologist…get a Referral if needed…Mental Health professionals available…blah, blah. In other words, while you have to start somewhere..people are “expecting” serious and professional health checks but it’s all really just about “Assessing-Community-Health-Needs.” So, imagine being stuck here for whatever reason…confused as hell and with little clarity about anything…and feeling betrayed by both political parties, the railroad, etc. People will be even more anxious, fearful, pissed and depressed…

I was a bit disappointed you didn’t respond to my response to your email recently. However, I’m sure you’ve been busy with follow-ups to this or other stories. Meanwhile, I’m glad I didn’t interview with the Lever. Why? While there has been some great investigative work here…there also appears to be an excess of “political’” emphasis. I do understand your emphasis upon and discouragement with Buttigieg, the Dept. of Transportation, etc…but my focus, obviously, is UPON THE PRESENT & FUTURE HEALTH OF MYSELF, MY TOWN AND MY COMMUNITY.

You are a small & recently new news organization with minimal traffic. Given that…I’m sure you welcome the added attention you are now receiving from your good investigative reporting. However, I hope from this point that you may take a wider, clear-eyed, & agenda-less approach to this tragedy and the many root causes beneath it. 

My neighbors are railworkers & engineers. Talk to more of them. Also, talk to more that are on-the-scene today, now…rather than retired. Take a look at how all the damage Trump cast upon many governmental agencies still has them in disarray. Hell, the EPA is still trying to climb-out from under the wreckage done by pseudo-macho-cowboy Scott Pruit. Take a deeper look at all the sleaze deregulation attorneys-in-a-row and their corresponding corporate groups & lobbyists…then, make a nice long list of the donations that went into Congressional pockets. I already have a good sense of the net worth and general bios of the major players at Norfolk Southern (…took less than an hour.) Once again, focusing your binoculars upon some worthy specifics (…while momentarily helpful & very interesting)…also ensures that some very fuzzy & unclear edges inhabit the periphery. Just my thoughts from similar past experiences…

Speak with a RR Engineer/Mathematician about the likely scenario here if the train had been equipped with electronic braking. With a bad axle, the derail would still have occurred…but with electronic brakes, where might the train have actually stopped? Ha, if it had stopped downtown next to the gas station…most of the entire town would have blown-up.

Also, our groundwater layer is very near surface..not good…so, there is already more run-off into creeks, etc. The method they are using to remediate water via air-spray is only throwing more chemicals into the air nearby.

Beyond that, there are other problems with the vinyl chloride beyond its high toxicity. It, unlike many other toxins, is NOT removed via granular activated carbon in the soil or otherwise. Bummer. As for the Dioxins, they ”BIO-ACCUMULATE”(…so say, pass from worm to plant, to us.) So much for in-ground gardening…right? Breaks our hearts..and the farmers, of course. However, I’ve already made plans to container and grow-bag plant. This Tomato grower doesn’t give-up that easily.

I’ve gardened here for 50 years. My garden serves as a big slice of my very Soul. Used to grow about everything…but now, focus primarily on those incredible Heirloom Tomatoes (…including, some that I’ve personally bred.) I’ve grown 100’s of varieties over the year..and, have NEVER used a single commercial fertilizer, pesticide, herbicide, etc. How WEIRD huh…now that this is “Toxic Godzillaville”?

I’m having some very special T-shirts made up (…with Godzilla eating-a-NS Train, of course)…had my Health Clinic check-up today..and sadly, was coughing-up some burnt plastic tasting & smelling mucous this morning. Not pleasant…but, we carry on. Ha, and while it wasn’t a thorough health check-up with testing,etc,(..will have that soon)…the doctor said my heart and lungs sound “great” via her trusty stethoscope. Go figure huh?

I spoke with Sen. Sherrod Brown on the phone this morning. We discussed everything from local needs to gardens. He’s a longtime gardener too. However,the heart of our conversation centered around the new Brown-Vance bipartisan legislation. We discussed the vested interest opposition also…Including Sen. Thune and others. He feels they’ll have the votes in the Senate…but, will have to push more for the House. Of course, all of us agree that now is the auspicious time…so, we must seize-the-moment.

P.S….The notice came today that NS is now preparing to ”Remove-the-Tracks”…oh my. Of course, they are also removing all the toxic material from the trackbeds. The new gravel and stone trucks have been lining-up for weeks. Must keep those trains moving, after all. Time=$$$$. Now, wouldn’t it be great if they had the same passion & zeal for fixing things here? By the way, that’s a lot of material…so, there will be more site traffic, more truck traffic, more noise and more odor. How kind of them to inform us…right? Ha,maybe we’ll do a community protest and …block-the-trains. Actually, there are much better and actually legal ways…

I just knew you’d be back to the RR Safety theme…and, with the article on Sen. Thune you guys are really rockin’. YOUR ARTICLE THIS MORNING REALLY…MADE-MY-DAY! GREAT WORK!

Best Regards…and yes, the fish, people and other things are very unhappy, Nevertheless, I’ll find a way to grow some of the Finest Damn Tomatoes on Earth here….as will others. We are a very crazy but also strong and tight-knit community. So yes, we will grow Tomatoes and Distill-Water-via-Steam…count on it.

THIS IS MY SMALL, PRIMARILY REDNECK, APPALACHIAN TOWN/REGION IN A NUTSHELL TODAY. AND, WHILE IT’S SOMETIMES CHALLENGING LIVING HERE…IT IS ALSO MY HOME…AND, I LOVE IT TOO….AS WOULD YOU TOO, IF IT WAS YOURS.