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Frustrations boil over at EP informational session on public health

Center for Disease Control (CDC) Associate Director Jill Shugart addresses residents during the second of a two-part informational session on public health held at East Palestine’s First United Presbyterian Church on Tuesday. (Photo by Stephanie Elverd)

EAST PALESTINE — Frustrations boiled over and tempers flared as East Palestine residents who say they are already experiencing adverse health impacts from February’s Norfolk Southern train derailment questioned health officials at the second of a two-part informational session on public health held at East Palestine’s First United Presbyterian Church on Tuesday.

“You guys are the professionals, we are leaning on you guys for information,” East Palestine resident Linda Murphy said. “You guys are leaving us high and dry with nothing to do but sit here and worry.”

Residents vented to experts from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), Prevention and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), the Poison Control Center , the Ohio Health Department, Pennsylvania health officials and Columbiana County Health Commissioner Wesly Vins, accusing the agencies of abandoning residents and not informing them that over half of the ATSDR’s team experienced the same symptoms as residents when in the village conducting Assessment of Chemical Exposure (ACE) surveys. Four months after the derailment, residents are still reporting nosebleeds, headaches, rashes, eye irritation, respiratory difficulties and digestive issues since the rail disaster.

During Tuesday’s session, CDC Associate Director Jill Shugart confirmed the reports that ATSDR’s survey takers became sick while in East Palestine.

“You may have also heard that some of our staff may have actually become ill when they went door-to-door during the ACE survey in the community,” she said. “This did happen. It happened in the area closest to the accident. It is important to note that some members of the team in the same area did not exhibit these symptoms. Our staff that did have symptoms had symptoms typical of people who come in contact with chemicals released in this community.”

Center for Disease Control (CDC) Associate Director Jill Shugart addresses residents during the second of a two-part informational session on public health held at East Palestine’s First United Presbyterian Church on Tuesday. (Photo by Stephanie Elverd)

The hot topic of the session centered around independent testing that residents insist prove ongoing exposure to vinyl chloride and benzene. Mark Durno of the Region 5 environmental Protection Agency has been fielding questions about those independent tests since the agency began holding weekly informational sessions over two months ago. Urinalysis results indicate elevated amounts of Thiodiglycolic acid — the vinyl chloride metabolite — in residents’ samples with some indicating two to four times the reporting level. For weeks, Durno has dismissed those findings, reiterating that the data collected by the EPA does not support the possibility of vinyl chloride exposure and has repeated that “lifestyle choices” such as smoking cigarettes, consuming alcohol, too many raw onions or the taking of B-12 supplements could manipulate the levels of metabolite in the body. The CDC echoed those opinions on Tuesday.

“Thiodiglycolic acid is not very specific to vinyl chloride. It will actually pick up other exposures as well,” said Dr. Arthur Chang of the ATSDR. “The reason this test is not used in occupational settings anymore is because there are a lot of false positives. One of them is vitamins. There have been studies done that people who take B-12 will increase your thiodiglycolic levels.”

Residents pushed back.

“Or the five cars of vinyl chloride were ignited might also expose as well,” Murphy countered. “We are getting dismissed and it’s very upsetting. I understand testing may not be accurate because there are other things that come into play. I don’t eat raw onions like apples. I do not take supplements. I do not smoke. I do not drink. Where’s it coming from? We will talk about other things but we won’t talk about the elephant on the tracks.”

Conflicting statements, contradictory information and directing concerned residents to hotlines and different agencies only to have calls not returned has only added to the residents’ mistrust and frustrations. Murphy said she called the ASTDR and the CDC and was given a case number but has never got a call back. Jake Cozza said when he called the Poison Control he was directed to call the CDC. Residents also pushed back on the suggestion by the health experts to visit their primary care providers with some residents going as far to claim the CDC’s guidelines given to area doctors and directives from the Ohio State Department of Health via a webinar established protocol to send patients complaining of chemical exposure not for further testing but back to the clinic in East Palestine.

Dr. Arthur Chang of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) addresses residents during the second of a two-part informational session on public health held at East Palestine’s First United Presbyterian Church on Tuesday. (Photo by Stephanie Elverd)

Both agencies vehemently denied the claims, insisting the webinar was to educate area medical professionals only. Dr. Sahn Yin, a toxicologist with the Cincinnati-area Poison Control Center said that a toxicology clinic was on the horizon soon in Cleveland and informed residents one already exists at UPMC in Pittsburgh, but later conceded a referral from a primary care physician was the only way to be seen at that clinic.

That’s something residents insist that local doctors will not do.

“I’ve seen four different PCPs and none of them would refer me for testing,” said Russ Murphy.

Cozza made a similar claim.

“I have a recording of my doctor telling me that the CDC told him to send us back to the clinic,” Cozza said. “And the clinic won’t help at all.”

Dr. Arthur Chang of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) addresses residents during the second of a two-part informational session on public health held at East Palestine’s First United Presbyterian Church on Tuesday. (Photo by Stephanie Elverd)

Health officials expressed both sympathy and concern for those living in and around East Palestine. The agencies said the residents’ distress was warranted but stopped short of admitting a connection to current ailments and the train derailment. Officials also said that testing for vinyl chloride would do little to help moving forward, reiterating that the tests to accurately detect those levels this far removed from Feb. 3 do not exist.

However, accurate tests do exist to detect vinyl chloride levels in the first few days following exposure.

“Who’s fault is it that we didn’t get tested immediately?” Murphy asked. “It’s not ours. You guys knew that testing had to be done immediately. You knew it. We didn’t know until you told us.”

selverd@mojonews.com

East Palestine resident speaks during the second of a two-part informational session on public health held at East Palestine’s First United Presbyterian Church on Tuesday. (Photo by Stephanie Elverd)

Columbiana County Health Commissioner Dr. Welsey Vins addresses residents during the second of a two-part informational session on public health held at East Palestine’s First United Presbyterian Church on Tuesday. (Photo by Stephanie Elverd)

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