Nonprofit group voices demands for Biden in wake of his visit to East Palestine
A nonprofit group who has made their voices heard several times throughout the course of the East Palestine train derailment aftermath are voicing some demands for President Joe Biden in wake of his visit to the village.
River Valley Organizing banded together Friday for the East Palestine Day of Action rally where they voiced four demands for the president. Those demands are as follows:
- Make a disaster declaration
- Address residents' health care concerns
- Provide long-term independent environmental monitoring
- Speaks with affected residents
"We want to make sure that [Biden] sees us and that we're heard and that he realizes that we still have unmet needs," said River Valley Organizing community organizer Timothea Deeter.
Deeter went on to say the EPA's response to the derailment so far has been "inadequate" and that she wants the situation to be seriously assessed.
"There's a big reason why people are getting sick and we need to assess those needs and address them. We shouldn't have an environment that's so toxic it's making us sick," Deeter said.
Deeter went on to say that the EPA using composite samples could produce "watered down results" and also slammed Norfolk Southern stating no matter how much money they've spent, the situation still has not been addressed.
"Honestly, I don't care how much money they've spent. This situation is still not entirely addressed and they caused it so they need to fix it," Deeter said.