EAST PALESTINE – Governor Mike DeWine, First Lady Fran DeWine, and the director of the Ohio Department of Health were in East Palestine Monday for the grand opening of a new, permanent health clinic, which replaces the temporary clinic that was set up after the fiery train derailment there in February.
Meanwhile, a truck hauling contaminated soil from the derailment site crashed, spilling 20,000 pounds of soil, though the Ohio EPA says the spill was contained.
The DeWines and ODH director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff attended the ceremonial ribbon-cutting for the East Liverpool City Hospital East Palestine Clinic.
The clinic replaces ODH’s temporary Health Assessment Clinic, which opened Feb. 21 in response to the concerns of East Palestine residents in the wake of the derailment and controlled burn of hazardous chemicals.
The state-funded clinic, located at 139 N. Walnut Street, will offer the same services to area residents, many of whom do not have primary care providers, as the former clinic, along traditional comprehensive primary care from physicians, registered nurses and mental health specialists, including treatment, prescriptions, lab testing, and consultation, according to a release from DeWine’s office.
Truck loaded with contaminated soil flips
The Ohio State Highway Patrol says a truck hauling 40,000 pounds of contaminated soil from the East Palestine train derailment site was involved in a crash on SR-165 near the Mahoning-Columbiana County line.
The northbound tractor trailer traveled off the roadway and overturned onto its right side, spilling approximately 20,000 pounds of soil onto the roadway and berm.
The local fire department and the Ohio EPA are on scene and the EPA says the spill was contained and is not a threat to nearby waterways.
The Patrol reports that the driver sustained minor injuries.
AG sues phony charity for pocketing money intended for East Palestine residents
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is suing a phony charity that falsely claimed to be collecting donations to benefit residents of East Palestine following the Norfolk Southern train derailment.
Yost’s lawsuit alleges that Mike Peppel, in soliciting contributions, presented his Ohio Clean Water Fund as a nonprofit organization acting on behalf of Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley to provide residents with emergency aid and bottled water.
Instead, Peppel and others have pocketed at least $131,000 of the roughly $141,000 raised from more than 3,000 donors, Yost said.