Environmentalist Scott Smith test samples around the East Palestine train derailment. (ABC News)(OHIO) In the one year since the toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, where 11 cars carrying hazardous materials spilled toxins into the environment, many of the residents still haven t returned home.
The spill forced hundreds of nearby residents out of their homes and sparked fears, as five tankers carried vinyl chloride, which posed serious health risks. Vinyl chloride burning can create dioxins, which are carcinogenic, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
For the last year, residents like Ashley McCollum, have lived out of a Best Western hotel a few towns over.
Last February, McCollum fled her house with her boyfriend and son Zane and two dogs. She s spent most of the year at this hotel paid for by Norfolk Southern.
Norfolk Southern is still paying for the relocation of roughly 40 other families, but that benefit is expected to run out Feb. 9.
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