East Palestine Residents Still Concerned, Frustrated 2 Years After Toxic Train Derailment

Feb. 3 marks the two-year point after a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous materials derailed in the village on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border.

A black plume rises over East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 6, 2023, as a result of a controlled detonation of a portion of the derailed Norfolk Southern trains. (Gene J. Puskar/AP Photo

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio—As a lifelong resident of East Palestine, which generations of his family have called home, Greg Mascher longs for the village he knew before Feb. 3, 2023.

“This town meant everything to me. It was a great place to live and raise a family. It was a great place to grow up,” Mascher told The Epoch Times on Jan. 31. “Most people even across Ohio couldn’t point to East Palestine on a map. I wish it could go back to the way it was but that’s not possible. Now, we have to wonder about an uncertain present and future.”