Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine confirmed he suffered an injury while he was visiting East Palestine, the site of a toxic train derailment that has drawn national headlines in recent weeks.
The Republican governor, 76, told the Columbus Dispatch newspaper that he suffered a displaced distal fibula fracture just above his ankle that occurred while he was visiting a church in East Palestine on Feb. 21. It came as the state was opening up a health clinic for residents who live near the train derailment site.
“My foot caught on something,” DeWine told the paper on Sunday night. “I’m fine,” DeWine said, adding that he’s “just not walking my dog as much.”
A spokesperson for his office confirmed his injury to several news outlets on Monday. The Epoch Times has contacted DeWine’s administration for additional comment.
When DeWine visited East Palestine that day, a video went viral showing the governor, Environmental Protection Agency chief Michael Regan, and other officials drinking water from an East Palestine woman’s home.
“One of the things we did today during two home visits was to drink some of the water … the village water,” DeWine told local affiliate Fox19. “This village water is safe.”
Last week, investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released a preliminary report saying that the train derailment was likely caused by an overheating wheel axle. Five of 38 train cars were carrying vinyl chloride, a toxic substance that can increase the risk of cancer or even cause death, the NTSB confirmed.
“This was 100 percent preventable. … There is no accident. Every single event that we investigate is preventable,” NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said during a news conference last Thursday. “The NTSB has one goal, and that is safety and ensuring that this never happens again.”
A resident displays a mannequin on their porch in East Palestine, Ohio, as cleanup from the Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern train derailment continues, on Feb. 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)After the train derailed, officials initiated the controlled release and burn-off of materials on the train—including vinyl chloride—that sent a large plume of black smoke into the air. Locals in the village have since complained of a range of health problems, including nausea, rashes, respiratory problems, and more.
One man who spoke to the New York Post over the weekend said that since the derailment, his voice has sounded “like Mickey Mouse.” A video of his interview appeared to confirm the man’s unusually high-pitched voice.
“My voice sounds like Mickey Mouse. My normal voice is low. It’s hard to breathe, especially at night,” the man said. “My chest hurts so much at night I feel like I’m drowning. I cough up phlegm a lot. I lost my job because the doctor won’t release me to go to work.”
Shelby Walker, another East Palestine resident who lives near the derailment site, said she’s also suffered health problems. Her family members have also experienced a variety of symptoms, and yet “the cleanup crew drives past us at night and won’t even look at us. It’s like we don’t exist. No one has reached out to us or told us anything.”
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan, left, walks with his staff through East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 16, 2023. Residents of the Ohio village upended by a freight train derailment are demanding to know if they’re safe from the toxic chemicals that spilled or were burned off to avoid an even bigger disaster. (Lucy Schaly/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP)“The bad smell comes and goes,” Walker said. “Yesterday was the first day in probably three or four days that I could smell anything. I lost my smell and my sense of taste. I had an eye infection in both eyes. I was having respiratory issues like I was just out of breath. Other members of my family have had eye infections and strep throat.
Meanwhile, on Sunday afternoon, DeWine issued an update saying that “new water monitoring wells will be installed this week at the site of the derailment” in East Palestine, adding that “these wells will determine if the ground water directly below the site is contaminated.”