Ohioans near train derailment report health symptoms

The Ohio Department of Health released on Monday a survey of 446 residents who lived near the site where a train carrying toxic chemicals derailed. State health officials began the survey on Feb. 21, more than two weeks after the Feb. 3 crisis. Among the top symptoms reported by the survey participants were anxiety, coughing, fatigue or tiredness, and irritation, pain, or burning of the skin. Seventy-six percent of respondents reported headaches. The survey also covered nearly 200 first responders to the crisis who reported similar symptoms, but in smaller percentages.

How are the cleanup efforts going? About 7.4 million gallons of wastewater have been removed from East Palestine, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency reported. About 6,800 tons of soil have already been removed from the site while another 29,000 tons of excavated soil is waiting to be removed.

Dig deeper: Read Carolina Lumetta’s report in The Stew on East Palestine residents trying to go back to normal life.