EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — As the grim three-month anniversary of the Norfolk Southern train derailment approaches, Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown made a brief visit to East Palestine on Monday to hear concerns from village residents. Brown met with residents during a roundtable held at the First Church of Christ on North Market Street.

Residents voiced concerns over possible long-term health implications due to the disaster as well as air, water and soil quality, progress of cleanup efforts, the effect the derailment and controlled burn may have on property value and proposed legislation to make the tracks that run through their town safer.

Brown is calling for passage of the Railway Safety Act, a bipartisan bill introduced with political counterpart J.D. Vance. The bill, among other things, would mandate hotbox detectors every 10 miles as well as mandating advance notice to local officials of trains carrying hazardous cargo through towns along the rail line as well as a minimum two-person crew on every train. Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw said at the Senate Commerce Committee hearing on railroad safety held on March 21 that he supports some but not all changes proposed by the pending legislation. The bill is not without other critics, but Brown said preventing another incident like the one in East Palestine is paramount and protecting people should not be a political issue.

“It shouldn’t take a crisis like this for elected officials to put partisanship aside and work together for the people we serve, and not corporations like Norfolk Southern,” Brown said.

Brown also reiterated that Norfolk Southern has a duty to clean up the mess made in East Palestine and he plans on holding the railroad’s feet to the fire to make sure they do.

“This is the kind of community that is exploited by corporate America,” he said. “I’m here for the long haul. We’re going to be here for months, for the next year, the next 19 years if that’s what it takes.”

While there are many needs left to be met as East Palestine tries to recover from the derailment, some needs have been remedied. Demands for long-term health monitoring led to a permanent health clinic fast tracked in the village. The East Palestine Health Clinic — a partnership with East Liverpool City Hospital — opened at 139 N. Walnut St. last week. The clinic offers baseline testing and provides screening tests as it relates to the trail derailment.

The demand to remove all contaminated dirt from the village was heard and is also proceeding. On Friday, Norfolk Southern’s Chris Hunsicker gave an update on the cleanup and environmental remediation efforts from the derailment site. Hunsicker said work on the southbound tracks, which includes excavating all toxic soil, is nearing completion with work on the north tracks expected to begin this week. The work on the second set of tracks is expected to last two months or more.

Hunsicker also gave an update on the cleanup of the creeks and stormwater management, reporting the installation of a sophisticated water drainage system that diverts clean water around the derailment site in black pipes that now snake throughout the village. Contaminated stormwater is collected and stored in two million-gallon tanks built on North Pleasant Drive until that water can be disposed of offsite. Remediation of the local waterways is ongoing, Hunsicker reported. That work will continue concurrently with the cleanup at the derailment site.

As for property value damages, Norfolk Southern insists a market-analysis program is in the works to counter any depreciation of homes and property in the village. To date, no specifics of the proposed program have been released.

The plant tissue sampling was conducted on area farms last week by the Ohio Department of Agriculture in partnership with Ohio State University. The tissue testing followed soil sampling that began on March 9 in and around East Palestine. The soil testing was conducted at various agricultural, residential and recreational areas around the village. Soil test results have shown levels of toxins in the soil have not exceeded safe levels. Plant tissue results are expected within the next two weeks.

Vigorous sampling and testing of water quality continues throughout the village. Municipal water samples as well as testing results from private water systems of East Palestine area homes continue to show no harmful levels of contaminants. In total, 157 private systems have been sampled. Of those, test results from 57 samples have been verified, and none have shown any harmful contaminant levels associated with the derailment. Residents near East Palestine who have not yet had their water system sampled should call 330-849-3919.