Environmental advocate Erin Brockovich visits East Palestine after train derailment

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio (KDKA) — Well-known environmental advocate Erin Brockovich held a town hall Friday night in East Palestine, Ohio, to talk to people impacted by the train derailment and help them learn their legal rights. 

It came exactly three weeks after the Norfolk Southern train crashed near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border and released toxic chemicals into the environment.

Brockovich said the purpose of the event at the high school was to provide information, not solicit clients. Her team told KDKA-TV about 1,000 people attended. They said they are concerned for their health and safety after the incident.

"I've never seen anything in 30 years like this," Brockovich said.

Powerful words from Brockovich, who has spent decades fighting companies accused of contaminating water. She knows what people in East Palestine, Darlington Township, Pennsylvania, and communities miles away are going through.

"You understand the fear and don't let anyone else tell you what happened to you or how you feel in fact didn't happen," Brockovich said.

Brockovich and members of her new team, East Palestine Justice, shared what they've learned so far about the crash, the railroad company, the water and the chemicals.

"Believe us, it's coming. You have a high water table rule. You've got volatile organics on the top, as it moves underneath homes it can vaporize," Brockovich said.

Michael Watts is a trial lawyer.

"What happened to you is a hazard that has been known by this company for a long time and what happened to you is a course of conduct that is repetitive, entirely preventable but not prevented," Watts said.

Brockovich prefaced the event by saying they don't have all the answers, but they hope to prepare the residents for their next steps.

"This is not a quick fix. This is going to be a long game," Brockovich said.

"If it was up to me, testing my blood and my urine is good for my health," Watts said.

Those living in the region know something is up with the air and water, as they and their animals continue to get sick. Ronald Hickman lives within one mile of the wreckage site.

"I open up our closet and I got a whole whiff of that stuff and I couldn't stop coughing for five to 10 minutes," Hickman said.

He and others are confused following mixed messaging from local and state officials, but they left Friday's town hall with a better idea of where to go from here.

"They did give us more information than we had," Hickman said.

George Psomas lives 3,000 feet away from where the derailment occurred.

"It does make me feel a little bit better that there is some powerful people in the area that are helping us," Psomas said. 

Brockovich and her team plan to be back in the area to hold town halls in East Palestine and western Pennsylvania on March 2.

East Palestine Justice is also collecting information from people on its website, regarding future legal action.