(NewsNation) — It’s been 168 days since a Norfolk Southern train derailed, spilling toxic chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio, and community members are urging President Joe Biden to issue a Major Presidential Disaster Declaration.
“Declaring an emergency in this area would open up those vital resources so that we can get back into our homes and feel like a community again,” Jessica Conard, an East Palestine resident, told NewsNation’s Leland Vittert on Friday.
As investigators continue to look into the cause of the incident, Conard said victims are still “bleeding at the crime scene,” in some cases, quite literally.
“We’re talking about nosebleeds, respiratory illness, all sorts of different things — eye infections,” she said.
Those symptoms, Conard said, were not widespread before the derailment.
Recent independent test results from the area showed potentially dangerous chemicals were present at rates well above normal in the soil.
Conard told Vittert she wants to see more “urgency” when it comes to supporting local residents.
“We have a rail company that expeditiously laid tracks onto poisoned soil and I would really like to see that same urgency applied to getting the indoor home monitoring and health screenings that we desperately need,” she said.
In March, Biden said he would visit East Palestine “at some point” but that point hasn’t come. Since the derailment on Feb. 3, the president has traveled to Ukraine, Virginia Beach, Colorado Springs, Delaware, Philadelphia and California, among other places.
Earlier this month, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine asked Biden to issue a disaster declaration for the town, but that hasn’t happened yet. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) told NewsNation it was reviewing DeWine’s request as of July 4.
Meanwhile, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is still investigating the cause of the derailment.
In a recent interview with NewsNation, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg vowed to stand by the community for as long as they need. He said the Environmental Protection Agency will hold Norfolk Southern accountable and is pushing for legislation to prevent future derailments.