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Pam Kline welcomed me through the front door of her home in East Palestine, Ohio, on a wet afternoon when we did not know if it was safe to be in the rain. About a week prior to our meeting, a train derailed in this small slice of the heartland, releasing toxic chemicals into the soil and sky. The house is a well-kept American Foursquare with an enclosed porch filled by the leathery smell of tobacco. She apologized for the odor as I entered the living room where her husband, Lenny, and a friendly Australian shepherd awaited. I told her the smell was pleasant. Even amid a crisis, the Klines were warm and kind.
But as we spoke, I could see the despair in their eyes. When Norfolk Southern train 32N careened off the tracks in the night on Feb. 3, it upended their lives and the lives of East Palestine’s roughly 5,000 residents.
Today, the flames that engulfed the train and its poisonous cargo have been extinguished. But there remains a sense of uncertainty and fear among the residents of East Palestine. They do not know who to trust. They are angry at the railroad company. And they feel neglected by their leaders.
Theirs is a story about a small American town struggling to survive after decades of bipartisan neglect cast a long shadow over their future.
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