Help us relocate from the toxic train derailment

Hello. My name is Jenny Santana. I am a stay at home mother of 5, (14, 11, 10, 6, and 1) my husband and I live, with our 5 daughters and cats, 4.7 miles as the crow flies from the train derailment site, in South Beaver twp. With a Darlington address. I grew up in East Palestine, and my dad and brother still live there. We used to spend summers there swimming in my dads pool. 

Feb 3, 2023, the day the train derailed, changed our lives forever. We learned more about chemicals in the 3 days that followed than we ever thought we would. For 2 days the fires burned and explosions continued. On Sunday February 5, they announced that there was growing concern of one of the tankers filled with vinyl chloride exploding due to a failure of the safety valve. The decision was swiftly made to evacuate and explode the tanker before it had a chance to blow. They called this controlled. It was anything but controlled. We live just outside the Evac zone, but the effects are felt just as much from us as the people within. The following day (Monday) they burned off the chemicals via a controlled vent and burn and it was terrifying. My children were rushed home from school with hardly any warning, my 6 year old upset and crying, believing she was going to die. She got off the bus and ran In The door in tears and packed a bag just in case we had to leave. Many people we know were being evacuated from their homes and there was talk of expanding the evacuation radius. State route 51 was closed off at 168, which is the road to our house. My kids saw the roadblocks before I knew they were even there. They are traumatized. A loved to watch the trains, now she hides when she hears one instead of running to watch it, no matter where we are. She’s terrified of another toxic train and the one that is still a problem. If we even go in that direction on the road she starts crying. The night of the “controlled release”, the toxic black cloud of smoke and toxins came directly over our house, raining down ash and dioxins. We couldn’t even see the trees that line the property we rent while in our home. We triple checked all the windows to be sure they were shut that day and turned off the furnace that day/night, hoping that would help. We changed our furnace filter, added filters to our vents and are unsure of what else to do. At this point. The “clinic” set up in darlington is a joke and they all give scripted and vague replies. We all know that this area isn’t safe. Within several miles. Pennsylvania has no guidance or direction, we have been forgotten. And are being brushed off. And we don’t matter to NS. We weren’t able to evacuate as no assistance was or is being offered to us, and every place I could have gone or go was/is closer to the disaster. I was born and raised in Negley and East Palestine and all of my remaining family lives in those areas. My oldest daughter and I have both experienced severe headaches and some skin issues since. My younger 4 have all had coughs and respiratory symptoms since. I cannot prove that it is related but you can’t help but wonder. Even the doctors in the area were sent letters saying not to diagnose anything chemical related. It’s terrible what they are doing and trying to lessen the severity of this disaster. 

We want to leave. We don’t want to risk our health or the health of our children for years to come. If it were your children’s lives in question, how far away for you would be safe? We want to leave. I am begging you as a mother to help us. I don’t want to stay here and put my children’s health at risk. NS is silently making offers on people’s homes in East Palestine so they know this is worse than they are saying.  They bought out a business that has been a staple of in the area for decades because they were caught attempting to bury the contaminated solid they are supposed to be removing behind the property of this business.  We want out now! As of 3-5-23 Norfolk southern has offered relocation assistance to all of East Palestine and up to 1 mile away from my home, for the upcoming 1-2 months while they dig up the tracks and all the contaminated soil. They say the smell will be strong and all those chemicals that spilled will be released again into the air. Please help us.  We want to move to a different state and start a new chapter. There is no life without fear and unknown here anymore, and that’s not how I want to live or how I want my children to grow up. They deserve to be free to play outside and breathe clean air, and not have to worry about the effects of this for years to come. Please just help us.