On Wednesday, a rail union leader penned a series of letters to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Federal Railroad Administration administrator Amit Bose, East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway, and Ohio governor Mike DeWine, alleging that workers at the East Palestine train derailment site were falling ill.
Jonathan Long, general chairman of the American Rail System Federation of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, claimed that those tasked with handling the disaster were experiencing “migraines and nausea,” and urged the relevant authorities to force Norfolk Southern to ramp up their safety standards.