Medical clinic to open this week in East Palestine

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — The state of Ohio will open a medical clinic this week in the village of East Palestine to evaluate those concerned about symptoms or otherwise worried about the aftereffects of the Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern derailment, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced on Friday.

The Associated Press reports that DeWine also said a plume of chemicals that reached the Ohio River after the derailment has dissipated and is no longer a concern, with water testing showing it is completely gone. Still, Cincinnati officials said Saturday they would halt water intake from the river “out of an abudance of caution” while the last detectable chemical concentration passed, which was expected to happen on Sunday, WLWT-TV reports.

Chemicals from the derailment had spilled into local creeks, with a smaller amount reaching the Ohio River.

While officials say testing continues to show air and water is safe, some area residents remain skeptical, and the clinic will include a team of experts in chemical exposure, DeWine said.

“These are very legitimate questions, and residents deserve an answer,” DeWine said. “… “We’re doing absolutely everything we can to assure residents to what the situation is. I understand people have been traumatized. I understand skepticism.”

East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway said Saturday that the clinic should be open by Tuesday, WFMJ-TV reports.

In other developments:

— Conaway, in a Facebook post, said that wheel-wash containment stations are being installed to address possible contaminants being carried by mud from trucks leaving the derailment site, and that trucks hauling soil must use tarps to limit dust. Conaway also wrote that he had met with the initial members of the Federal Emergency Management Agency assessment team to arrive on scene, and that the FEMA will join with the state and federal EPA in watching over cleanup activities.

— An Ohio high school girls’ basketball team forfeited a playoff game scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 18, because of “health and safety concerns” over playing near the site of the derailment.

The Beachwood High team, from suburban Cleveland, forfeited its scheduled game at Crestview High School in Columbiana, approximately 7 miles west of East Palestine, after asking the game be moved to a new location. The Ohio High School Athletic Association, the state’s governing body for athletics, said there was no reason to move the game, and team chose to forfeit over “reports of toxic/hazardous chemicals and environmental concerns,” Beachwood City Schools District Director of Athletics Ryan Peters said in a report by WKYC-TV.

It was the second such forfeit in three days. WKBN-TV reports Bristol High of Bristolville, Ohio, forfeited a girls’ basketball sectional game at East Palestine on Thursday, Feb. 16, with one Bristol parent saying, “The kids’ safety is our utmost concern. … It’s the EPA, No. 1. I don’t trust the EPA.”