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Despite reassurances from officials and NS, West Virginia University student finds tens of thousands of dead animals in Leslie Run Creek, other residents continue to report illness, sick and dying animals

State and federal officials and Norfolk Southern continue to tell residents everything is fine in the region surrounding the derailment, fire, and toxic chemical spill that has devastated East Palestine, but there is a continuous flow of stories from residents and scientists that raise both doubts about the official storyline and serious concerns about how much danger people are in today and will be in years from now.

For example, Sam Hall, a sophomore studying Wildlife and Fisheries Resource Management at West Virginia University discovered and took video of tens of thousands of dead animals in Leslie Run Creek which is located about one and one-half miles from the crash site.

“It’s a catastrophe. Everything is dead there’s nothing. You shouldn’t walk through a creek and see piles of dead things floating past you, it should be life.”

“There’s dead frogs, dead crayfish, dead fish, everything in the creek is dead and it was all just sitting on the bottom covered in fungus rotting and there’s just a terrible chemical smell through this entire valley,” Hall said.

Hall isn’t alone in documenting disastrous impact of the spill. Taylor Holzer runs Parker Dairy, and is registered with ODNR as a fox keeper. He told Channel 19 news that Two of his foxes have died since the derailment, and several others are still very sick.

“Out of nowhere, he just started coughing really hard, just shut down, and he had liquid diarrhea and just went very fast,” Holzer said. Holzer is still busy trying to save his other foxes, but he hopes his story will raise awareness.

As we’ve said since the day the derailment occurred, everyone living in the area should document any and all health effects they or their animals suffer that may be related to the spill. Also keep a diary and track expenses you incur including lost wages, loss of business income, damage to equipment and vehicles.

And remember, don’t sign any forms or papers you receive from Norfolk Souther or their insurers. Do contact Betras, Kopp & Markota today so we can begin protecting you, your family, and your ability to receive the just compensation you need and deserve.

You can reach us 24/7-365 by calling 330-746-8484 or completing and submitting the contact form on the home page of www.bkmlaws.com

You may access the iNaturalist page Hall created here: https://www.inaturalist.org/…/east-palestine-ohio-fish…

https://www.cleveland19.com/…/university-student-finds…/