Every seat in the East Palestine High School auditorium was taken Friday night as America’s most famous environmentalist took the stage to address a community that was distraught, angry, and confused by a train accident that left their little had put city to sleep.
“Good evening, thank you for being here. My name is Erin Brockovich, not Julia Roberts,” she said, triggering a collective roar of laughter.
There has been little to laugh about in the three weeks since a Norfolk Southern freight train partially derailed and caught fire in this small Ohio town close to the Pennsylvania border carrying a massive amount of toxic chemicals.
Residents are facing acute medical complaints and growing concerns about long-term risks posed by contaminated air, soil, and water. And despite the initial quip, Brockovich’s message was fiery and daring.
“I feel your anger, I feel your frustration. You are not alone. Every community I’ve been in has been given the runaround. You’ll be told it’s okay, that you’re safe, but This is not okay. I haven’t seen anything like this in 30 years,” she told about 400 people in the main hall, and hundreds watching the livestream in the gym.
“Please be vigilant, stick to your ground. We’re going to give you more and more information, some of which you may not want to hear and may scare you. But the more you know, the better you can prepare as we move forward… There are no quick fixes or sweet answers, this is going to be a long game. Don’t let what happened here divide you. This ain’t my first rodeo. You have to stick together and protect each other,” Brockovich said.
Brockovich, a legal clerk-turned-whistleblower and environmental activist, was instrumental in building the case against Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) in 1993 for contamination of water in Hinkley, California. A Hollywood film starring Roberts won five Oscar nominations.
There was applause when Brockovich introduced the women of Flint, Michigan, who founded a grassroots organization after turning off their community’s water supply to save the city money, resulting in thousands of families. Levels of lead and other toxins became dangerous. “The mothers of Flint have come to help organize the mothers of East Palestine. It’s going to be about organizing,” Brockovich said.
But the biggest cheer of the night was for former NFL footballer Bernie Kosar, an Ohio native and star quarterback for the Cleveland Browns, who waved from the back of the auditorium.
It was billed as a town hall, but it was closer to a legal symposium and calls for plaintiffs organized by Brockovich, lawyers, and environmental experts to pursue a class-action lawsuit against Norfolk Southern. Eastern Palestinians came together under the banner of justice. ,
Residents listened mostly in silence as they were taken through a dense PowerPoint presentation filled with data on train accidents, financial reports, scientific papers, case law, and news reports, but when details of Norfolk Southern’s dire safety record and growing profits were presented When he went, Shravy started gasping. on the big screen.
“The political blame game doesn’t do you any good,” said Mikael Watts, the trial attorney leading the case, referring to the warring words between visiting Democrats and Republicans. “The law says it is the responsibility of this company to prevent its trains from derailing… what happened here could have been prevented but was not prevented.”
Some residents are planning to leave East Palestine, but most neither want nor want to leave. Robert Bowcock, a water expert who has also worked with Brockovich on several environmental lawsuits, didn’t hold back. “You’re in a situation you’re going to deal with for the rest of your life – if you stay here.”
Lawyers need concrete evidence to win in court, and they urged people to get blood and urine tests done as soon as possible. But Ohio prohibits attorneys from answering specific questions at public meetings, leaving many dismayed.
“It was really interesting but I have a lot of questions about the trial, like who pays for it, will we get reimbursed, and what if my insurance won’t cover it? … We have to do a lot of follow-ups ourselves.” There will be,” said Rita Deem, 55, a cancer geneticist who lives 5 miles downstream from toxic spills and chemical burns.
There are already several lawsuits in the works, but as people filed out of school on a cold winter night, few were more inspired than Brockovich’s plea for unity.
Michael Harbaugh of Dayton said, “I’m trying to be an active citizen to stand in solidarity with the people here and show my disgust for Trump and Biden who had the chance to give us proper safety regulations and Instead chose corporate profits.” , Ohio. “A lot of railroads go through my town as well, it’s an issue that affects everyone across America and if we all come together, that’s change.”