East Palestine residents still pushing for federal railroad safety legislation
By Amelia Wysong
On February 3, 2023, Jess Conard heard emergency responder sirens for over 20 minutes near her home in East Palestine. A train derailed that evening, causing hazardous materials, including vinyl chloride and butyl acrylate, to leak from damaged tank cars. Some of the damaged cars caught on fire.
“I didn’t even realize that folks from in town were getting evacuated,” Conard said. “I received no alert on my phone. The news was very vague, and there were reporters that were near the fire, but it didn’t seem like that big of a deal, but it was for a lot of families.”
The chemicals released from the fire caused residents to fear for their health and were detected in waterways around East Palestine, including the Ohio River. The Environmental Protection Agency continues to monitor the area.
The derailment raised concerns about railway safety. But three years after the catastrophic train derailment, national railway safety legislation has yet to pass.
Because of her experience in East Palestine, Conard said she founded Rail Watch, a grassroots organization dedicated to helping communities prevent future derailments, and getting safety legislation passed is part of that. Rail Watch assists communities by helping them understand their risks related to railways and building campaigns to advocate for their specific concerns, she explained.
“Train derailments happen three times a day in the United States, and I think with East Palestine being so popular, people are paying attention,” said Conard. “Rail safety is sexy now, and that’s a good thing.”
After the East Palestine derailment in 2023, former senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and JD Vance (R-OH) introduced the Railway Safety Act, which passed the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation but did not make it to the floor. The bill sought to address requirements for trains carrying hazardous materials and establish requirements for wayside defect detectors.
Bipartisan issues during that time likely prevented it from moving forward, with neither party wanting to give the other a legislative victory, explained John Esterly, the Ohio State Legislative Board chairman for the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. The American Association of Railroads was unavailable for comment on its opposition to the legislation.
Despite the Railway Safety Act not passing nationally, many of the largest pieces of the federal language were enacted in Ohio after the East Palestine derailment, Esterly said.
“In terms of the legislative calendar here at the Ohio Statehouse, that was basically in the midst of our transportation budget cycle so we were presented with kind of a unique opportunity in a time where we had this horrible tragedy,” he said. “We had a lot of policy that we’ve been discussing for years and years and years that would have contributed to a better solution, better outcome.”
The two major components enacted in Ohio include crew size requirements — having more than one person on the train — and mandates for wayside defect detectors every 10 miles, Esterly said. Both those components were included in the Railway Safety Act.
A hot box detector is a specific type of wayside defect detector installed on the tracks that uses infrared to monitor the temperature of a train’s bearings. In the instance of the East Palestine derailment, sensors detected a bearing was above normal temperature, but did not notify the crew. Notifications go through a call center, Conard explained, and it did not notify the crew of the problem in time to safely stop the train.
“If your wheel was on fire and you aren’t informed, and you’re driving down the highway because the call center isn’t telling you to stop, that’s a problem for you,” Conard said. “That’s a problem for everyone on the highway with you.” These are the types of issues that need to be better addressed, she said.
Members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, including current Ohio Senator Jon Husted, reintroduced the Railway Safety Act of 2026. Requests for comment by his office were not returned.
There is momentum with rail safety currently, but political issues may result in challenges to pass legislation, Esterly explained.
“I think the reality that we’re going to live in is no matter who’s in power, it’s going to be very, very close and it’s going to be very, very difficult for anything to move forward,” he said.
Rail safety language is currently included in larger policies, which may make its passage more likely, Esterly said. The BUILD America 250 Act, a surface transportation reauthorization act, includes language from the Secure Tracks Act, which deals with rail maintenance. “I think there’s definitely a path forward now that may have not been there previously,” he said.
The push for updated rail safety legislation started with East Palestine, Conard said, and change will continue to happen beginning at community levels.
“Community voices lead to change, not only in the community, but it’s grassroots to global,” Conard said, “What happened in my community in East Palestine, you know, we’re changing the game with rail safety. This wouldn’t even be talked about had we not spoken up.”
This story was written by Amelia Wysong for Kent State NewsLab, which shares stories by Kent State University School of Media and Journalism students with professional media partners. This story was produced in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.