On today’s show, we’ll be look­ing at the envi­ron­men­tal impact of the rail indus­try and hear from peo­ple in two com­mu­ni­ties cur­rent­ly impact­ed by rail-relat­ed contamination.

In Feb­ru­ary, a Suf­folk North­ern train car­ry­ing tox­ic chem­i­cals derailed in East Pales­tine, Ohio, and res­i­dents are still recov­er­ing from the dis­as­ter over two months lat­er. Res­i­dents like Jami Wal­lace and com­mu­ni­ty orga­ni­za­tions are fight­ing for relief.

In Hous­ton’s Fifth Ward, res­i­dents have been liv­ing with the dire health effects of car­cino­genic cre­osote used to treat rail­road ties decades ago. Health offi­cials have found can­cer clus­ters in the neigh­bor­hood, where many have been dev­as­tat­ed by the loss of friends, neigh­bors and loved ones. We’ll hear a sto­ry from Liv­ing Down­stream about the impacts to this close-knit com­mu­ni­ty, where res­i­dents and orga­niz­ers like San­dra Edwards con­tin­ue to advo­cate for account­abil­i­ty and justice.