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East Palestine Reckons With the Shattering of Its Sense of Place

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East Palestine Reckons With the Shattering of Its Sense of Place
Members of the community gather to discuss their safety and other environmental concerns at a town hall meeting following a train derailment that spilled toxic chemicals, in East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 15, 2023. Alan Freed/Reuters
Salena Zito
Updated:
Commentary

EAST PALESTINE—Rick Tsai is standing knee-deep in the briskly flowing Lesley Run creek, a mile downstream of where the massive derailment happened in this Columbiana County village. He’s wearing thick blue rubber gloves, heavy boots, and a respirator, and he is intent on seeing if the chemicals detected earlier are still visibly present.

Salena Zito
Salena Zito
Author
Salena Zito has held a long, successful career as a national political reporter. Since 1992, she has interviewed every U.S. president and vice president, as well as top leaders in Washington, including secretaries of state, speakers of the House and U.S. Central Command generals. Her passion, though, is interviewing thousands of people across the country. She reaches the Everyman and Everywoman through the lost art of shoe-leather journalism, having traveled along the back roads of 49 states.
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