EAST PALESTINE — While the debate continues into what could have prevented February’s Norfolk Southern train derailment, environmentalists contend they know what could have prevented the intentional release of vinyl chloride over the village that followed it — a ban on the chemical.

East Palestine moms-turned-activists Jessica Conard, Misti Allison and Jami Wallace, along with Enon Valley resident Hilary Flint and Co-Executive Director of River Valley Organizing Daniel Winston, have joined that movement which takes center stage today at federal Environmental Protection Agency’s headquarters in Washington D.C. with an event that includes an audience with Michal Freedhoff, assistant administrator in the EPA office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. Conard, Wallace, Flint and Winston will make the trip as representatives of the Unity Council for the East Palestine Train Derailment (UC) while Allison will contribute remotely.

The local activists also intend to use the event to get politicians and U.S. officials to join in their demand for a disaster declaration for East Palestine and surrounding communities impacted by the rail disaster.

“Our mission is two-fold,” said Conard, the UC External Partnerships director. “No. 1, request support from the EPA and our elected officials to urge Biden to declare an emergency in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia and, No. 2, to request a ban on toxic vinyl chloride. I am confident we will get this done. There is no other option if we as a community and a nation want to survive.”

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine finally submitted a letter to the Biden administration and Federal Emergency Management Agency, asking for a disaster declaration in regards to the derailment on July 3. DeWine made the request on the day that a 120-day extension to do so expired and after a request for a second extension was denied.

“We were happy to see that Gov. DeWine asked for a Major Disaster Declaration, but in his letter to President Biden he stated that the community has no unmet needs,” UC President Jami Wallace said. “That is not true and that’s why we’re going to Washington D.C. to advocate for ourselves.”

Wallace has been vocal in her advocacy for those “unmet needs.” She said there are still displaced residents unable to return to their homes six months after the rail disaster, residents who are forced to live in contamination and residents who are suffering a long list of symptoms related to the chemical spills and releases.

For Flint, who has stepped forward as the voice of Pennsylvanians impacted by the derailed train, the trip is a way to shine a light on the derailment victims she feels the federal government is ignoring.

“President Biden hasn’t visited us, so we are going to him,” Flint said. “I’m hopeful that we get a chance to meet with someone from the White House. The people of Ohio and Pennsylvania need help. We need this Major Disaster Declaration signed now.”

Allison, who testisfied on Capitol Hill in March at the U.S. Senate Train Derailment Hearing, agrees.

“The time has come for President Biden to sign the emergency declaration Gov. Mike DeWine requested nearly one month ago,” she said. “This will ensure that the state and federal government use all resources available to step in with needed assistance for the long-haul.”

A disaster declaration by DeWine was the first item on a list of demands the Unity Council released during a press conference in May. In June, the group traveled to Columbus to pressure DeWine into making the declaration with protests in both the state Rotunda and outside DeWine’s offices.

“We went to Columbus to ask Gov. DeWine to take action,” said Winston, a Wellsville resident who represents southern Columbiana County on the Unity Council. “Now that he did, we turn our attention to President Biden.”

The call to ban vinyl chloride, which is used primarily to make polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and a variety of plastic products, grew after the derailment led to a vent and burn of over 1.1 million pounds of the toxic gas from five damaged tanker cars.

According to the National Cancer Institute, vinyl chloride exposure can cause a rare form of liver cancer, as well as primary liver cancer, brain and lung cancers, lymphoma and leukemia. The EPA has classified vinyl chloride as a Group A human carcinogen. Exposure to the chemical can also cause dizziness, drowsiness, headaches, eyes and respiratory irritations, fatigue, visual and/or hearing disturbances, memory loss, sleep disturbances as well as tingling, numbness, weakness and pain in fingers and other joints.

In an open letter to Biden, published as an op-ed last week in Newsweek, Conard stated that the plastic industry bears some responsibility for the mess in East Palestine.

“There is an undeniable connection between this disaster and the plastics industry. The production of PVC plastic depends on transporting harmful chemicals like vinyl chloride,” she wrote. “The insatiable demand for plastics has driven the need for increased transport of these hazardous substances, placing communities near rail tracks under constant threat. As company profits soar, our communities are left to grapple with the aftermath of their negligence.”

Today’s event will begin at 11:30 a.m. at the EPA’s headquarters at 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. when the Unity Council, Beyond Plastics, Beyond Petrochemicals, River Valley Organizing, Hip Hop Caucus, Moms Clean Air Force, Greenpeace, Plastic Pollution Coalition, and Plastic Free Future, will deliver petition signatures to the EPA, demanding a ban on vinyl chloride.

seleverd@mojonews.com