“The next morning I got up, and boy, you could smell it and everything really bad,” he said. So they fled nearly 15 miles to Columbiana, Ohio, for the evening but returned home that night. It was going to Ohio and down towards Darlington. “It wasn't just going in one direction, it was going this way. He drove to a hill to try to see where the wind was blowing, but he couldn’t tell which direction the black cloud was heading. “I ain't staying here with that,” he said to his family. He was shocked to see a black mushroom cloud that he likened to that of a nuclear bomb. But Hostetter’s house sat outside the evacuation zone that public officials had designated, so he said he believed he and his family were safe. But the next day, he said, the smoke started blowing through his yard, so he and his family evacuated.īy the following Monday, Hostetter was back home, where he planned to stay despite Norfolk Southern’s plans to vent chemical gas from some of the rail cars it was a necessary precaution, the railroad said, to prevent a more dangerous explosion. At first, he wasn’t worried because the wind was blowing smoke towards the southeast and he was located northeast of the accident. 3, rise above the tree line of his 425-acre farm in Darlington Township. Hostetter watched the fire from the initial crash, on Friday, Feb. But others are worried about what the accident will mean for the land they grow crops on, the animals they hunt, the fish they eat and the long-term health of their families. One couple said they have been able to return home, and except for the occasional smell or debris, they don’t have major concerns. There are dozens more people in a similar position nearby, and they said, hundreds more Pennsylvanians who have been severely impacted. Late last week, WESA spoke with multiple Pennsylvanians in Beaver County who live within or just beyond the evacuation area near the site of the train derailment. The train that derailed came to a halt on the edge of his neighbor's property.īut some residents said that the work done on their behalf so far hasn’t always been made clear to them. “Over the past two weeks, the Shapiro Administration has worked closely with our local and federal partners to monitor air and water quality - and the Governor is leading the way to hold Norfolk Southern accountable for any and all impacts to Pennsylvania,” said Manuel Bonder, Shapiro’s press secretary.ĩ0.5 WESA One of Hostetter's Pennsylvania neighbors had to evacuate their two donkeys. 6, and the governor himself met last week with several Beaver County officials to discuss the work of state agencies helping to respond to the incident. Shapiro’s office also helped lead an evacuation effort of residents on Feb. Several Pennsylvania politicians have sent letters to both Norfolk Southern and federal agencies, asking for answers on behalf of their residents, including Gov. “But here, I'm right here and don't hear nothin’. We hear all kinds of stuff going on with attorneys and people in Ohio, getting information,” he said.
“Nobody in Pennsylvania seems to be cooperating with us people. 3, the invisible line separating the two states has seemed to determine who gets help and who doesn’t. But he said that since a Norfolk Southern train carrying toxic chemicals derailed on the Ohio side of the border on Feb. Hostetter lives in Darlington Township, Pa., less than a half-mile from the Ohio border. His mailbox down the driveway is located within it. Lee Hostetter lives a couple hundred yards outside the 1-mile evacuation zone from the East Palestine train derailment.
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