East Palestine resident: Biden visit was ‘final nail in the coffin’

(NewsNation) — Over a year after a train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, sending toxic chemicals into the air and water, President Joe Biden’s visit to the city inspired disappointment among some residents who still have health concerns.

On his trip Friday, Biden met with first responders and some residents to discuss the ongoing struggles the city is facing.

“We don’t have our needs met yet just based off of one presidential visit, but we are moving forward together. And I think that’s a really important thing to recognize after today’s visit,” said East Palestine resident Jess Conard.

Some East Palestine residents who watched Biden’s visit live on TV told NewsNation’s Rich McHugh the photo-op of the president drinking the tap water was “performative” and “disgusting,” calling it the “final nail in the coffin.”

NewsNation has been committed to investigating the fallout of the East Palestine train derailment over the last year. Here are the most recent updates:

• EPA kept secret elevated level of dioxins in East Palestine: Whistleblower report
• Ohio train derailment maps: Revisiting impact on East Palestine
• East Palestine health issues persist one year after Ohio train derailment
• East Palestine creeks visibly contaminated year after train derailment
• Cleanup costs exceed $1 billion Norfolk Southern announced layoffs
• Ohio train derailment: Have cleanup demands been met year later?
• East Palestine considering accepting wastewater
• East Palestine resident to ‘spend the rest of my life worrying’
• Ohio derailment still causing housing challenges
• Mayor: East Palestine residents plagued with health fears

However, the residents who met with Biden were more optimistic.

Prior to his visit, the town’s residents detailed key recommendations for Biden, explaining why they need federal assistance and urging him to issue a disaster declaration. The letter also recommended Biden provide support relocating residents, conduct indoor testing and create long-term health monitoring.

“It was definitely made clear that out of those demands, healthcare or some form of health monitoring is very much on the table. And it’s just about figuring out what is right,” said Hilary Flint, one of the East Palestine residents who met with Biden on Friday.

“That’s the thing that excited me the most as someone who, as I’ve told you, is a cancer survivor, so that’s always top of mind. And hearing multiple different agencies today and President Biden say that, you know, health care is something that they are looking into, I really believe that it will happen,” Flint added.

Misti Allison, another resident of the town who met with Biden, also told NewsNation she believes they will receive some federal assistance.

“He did not talk about indoor air monitoring specifically. However, I do believe those the federal funding from the NIH [National Institutes of Health] that he talked about, I believe some of those researchers are going to be doing some air monitoring,” Allison said.

Biden has faced criticism for not visiting sooner, but the White House continues to assert Biden wanted to go when the “time was right.” The administration contends Biden avoided visiting immediately after the derailment to allow emergency crews to work, and they say federal assistance was swiftly provided.

“I understand that there are going to be ongoing frustrations from residents that are impacted because as of this moment, their needs still have not been met,” Conard said.

“I think the Biden administration said that and the federal government is going to fill in the gaps that the train company is not providing. We’re not sure what that looks like yet, but we are certainly going to continue to hold the federal government accountable moving forward,” Conard added.