‘Ohio’s Chernobyl’ Still Wreaking Havoc in Pennsylvania

More than a year beyond the Norfolk Southern train derailment and chemical burn that brought national attention to East Palestine, residents on the Ohio and Pennsylvania sides of the border feel abandoned, forgotten and discarded by legislators. “Our Pennsylvania constitutional rights were violated and continue to be violated,” said Sheila Stiegler, an organic farmer in Lawrence County near East Palestine. "We are here with our expectations for our rights to be restored and upheld." Stiegler and other nearby residents testified during a Senate committee hearing on the aftereffects of the derailment and burn-off of vinyl chloride, which she called “the Ohio Chernobyl.”