Hundreds of angry residents gathered on Feb. 15 at a local high school gym in East Palestine, Ohio where a derailed train carrying toxic chemicals spilled in their town. They were trying to get answers about the health risks they may face.

Nearly 50 train cars derailed in East Palestine, Ohio in a fiery crash on Feb. 3.

Officials in Ohio said that toxic chemicals entered the Ohio River after the train derailment.

The chemicals either spilled into the river or were burned off by railroad crews.

The train that originated from Illinois broke down at least once before arriving to Ohio.

According to the train employees, there were concerns over the length and weight of the train.

Officials at railroad unions have been warning that cost cutting is harming safety measure.

"Even though some rail cars did have hazardous material on board and while most of them did not, that's why it was not categorized as a high hazardous material train. Frankly, if this is true and I'm told it's true, this is absurd," said Governor of Ohio, Mike DeWine at a press conference on February 14th. 

Thousands of residents were asked to evacuate the derailment area on Feb 6. The derailment generated a plume of pollution over East Palestine, OH.

The evacuation order was lifted on Feb. 8, but people in the town of 4,700 still have questions.

“This is so much bigger than just in the water, our environment, our wildlife animals, our farmers that have to till our soil up and do that.” Kathy Dyke, a Negley resident told AP. 

Many in the town developed a headache and eye irritation. Many residents also noticed the death of fish, chicken, and other wildlife.

State officials, however, are insisting that East Palestine, OH is safe to live in.

Tiffani Kavalec, Ohio's Environmental Protection Agency Chief of the Division of Surface Water said at a press conference on February 14th "We're seeing very low levels of contaminants and so all of the treatment being done at those water systems take out any contamination before it finished water. So I cannot envision that there would be any risk that has already occurred."

Residents are still concerned about persisting odor and reports about contaminated water. According to the EPA, in addition to vinyl chloride, three other substances were released from the derailment.

The White House has also deployed teams from the CDC and HHS to assist the state of Ohio.

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