East Palestine Derailment 1 of 3

DisasterNewsPhotojournalistPhotojournalism
Written By Justin Merriman

A mannequin is displayed on a porch with a sign that reads ‘We Are Fine’ on February 28, 2023 in East Palestine, Ohio.

Carly Tunno of Darlington, Pa., stands outside of Sprinklz on Top, a restaurant where EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan was meeting with community business leaders and Trent Conaway, mayor of East Palestine, on February 28, 2023 in East Palestine, Ohio. She hoped to ask them questions about issues that deeply concern her.

“I get it. Somebody messed up. I don't care. Somebody messed up. I get nobody's going to take blame for this. I get that, but somebody needs to tell people it is dangerous. It's dangerous to be here. It is dangerous to live and raise your children here,” she said as she wiped tears from her eyes.

Toxic chemicals float on the surface of Leslie Run creek on February 25, 2023 in East Palestine, Ohio. On February 3rd, a Norfolk Southern Railways train carrying toxic chemicals derailed causing an environmental disaster. Thousands of residents were ordered to evacuate after the area was placed under a state of emergency and temporary evacuation orders.

“Every morning I get up and my chest's killing me. I never did have chest pains. Now I got chest pains, and my nose is always running… Burning all the time,” says Lee Jenkins, 71, of Negley, Ohio, as he picks up water for his elderly neighbors with Matthew Mazza, 61, of Negley, (left) in the neighboring town of East Palestine on February 28, 2023. “I know what's going to happen. The railroad company going to go bankrupt. They ain't going to pay nobody. What can you do? You can't do nothing. It happened. It's over with. You know, you got to live from day to day.”

Contractors with Norfolk Southern work on cleaning toxic chemicals from Sulphur Run on February 28, 2023 in East Palestine, Ohio.

Trent Conaway, mayor of East Palestine, (center) sits with EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan as they meet with community business leaders at Sprinklz on Top, a popular restaurant, on February 28, 2023 in East Palestine, Ohio.

Courtney Miller gets her blood drawn for Dr. Beatrice Golomb Research Group as her children, Eliana, 6, and Mathias, 10, watch on at the Main Street Theater in Columbiana, Ohio on February 3, 2024. The study’s title is: Uncovering the Public Health Impact of Toxin Release in East Palestine, Ohio. The lab checked blood, urine, hair, fingernails and lung capacity as well as gathering other stats and info.

A Norfolk Southern train passes though the center of East Palestine, Ohio on Wednesday, March 1, 2023.

Wayne O’Connell, 66, and his wife, Lori, 59, sit in the kitchen of their home in Darlington, Pa., on January 19, 2024.

Norfolk Southern has agreed to pay $600 million in a class-action lawsuit settlement related to the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, in February 2023.

The settlement, if approved by a court, would pay class action claims within a 20-mile radius of the accident and personal injury claims within a 10-mile radius.

Residents, many of which still complain about respiratory issues, anxiety, unexplained rashes, and nosebleeds, fear it isn’t enough and doesn’t take into account potential costs from long-term health impacts of the derailment that spilled more than a million pounds of hazardous chemicals into the soil, water and air.

View full gallery here.

Justin Merriman

Justin Merriman, a freelance photojournalist based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has traveled the world to cover politics, wars, natural disasters, civil unrest as well as covering assignment throughout the United States. His work has appeared in leading national publications and he has received multiple top journalism awards.   

After covering the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks – including the crash of United Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania – Merriman committed to chronicling the U.S. military and its war on terror.  He has followed this story across the United States and into the conflict zones of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iraq. He also has covered life in Fidel Castro’s Cuba in 2002, India’s efforts to eradicate polio from its population, the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Cuba in 2012, the 2013 conclave and election of Pope Francis in Rome, the second anniversary of Egypt’s revolution and subsequent unrest, Russia’s invasion of Crimea and the international political crisis that unfolded in Ukraine in 2014, a look inside of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in 2015 and its uncertain future, and most recently, traveled the entire U.S. border with Mexico documenting issues on immigration. 

Merriman’s work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic, Time, USA Today, Sports Illustrated and other publications across the globe. 

He has been recognized with numerous regional, national and international awards from organizations including Pictures of the Year International, Society of Professional Journalists, the National Press Photographers Association, the Society for News Design, the Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar, the Northern Short Course, the Southern Short Course, the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, the Military Reporters and Editors Association, and the Western Pennsylvania Press Club. He was awarded Photographer of the Year by the News Photographer Association of Greater Pittsburgh four times and most recently was honored with the Keystone Press Award’s 2016 Distinguished Visual Award from the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association.

Born in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, Merriman graduated from the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg in 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Writing. In 2009, the university awarded him its prestigious Alumnus of Distinction award. 

Currently Merriman lives in Oakmont with his fiancé, Stephanie Strasburg, a photojournalist with PublicSource. 

http://www.justinmerriman.com
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