‘NOTHING IS SAFE HERE’

Couple Says They Were ‘Coughing Up Blood’ After Train Derailment

After evacuating, Nathan and Kelly Izotic said they returned to their “paradise” to find the wildlife gone and the stream contaminated.

An Ohio couple says their “paradise” has been destroyed by the East Palestine train derailment, despite the fact that they live outside the “danger of death” zone. Nathan and Kelly Izotic told the Daily Mail they fled their home the weekend after the Feb. 3 train derailment, when they fell severely ill and began coughing up blood. “The day after the derailment I started having symptoms, almost like Covid symptoms, like someone was pushing down on my chest … I had burning on my lips, nose, and eyes and a severe cough,” Nathan said. They now fear they’ll one day be diagnosed with cancer. On top of their health concerns, their property, which just weeks ago echoed with the chattering of birds and squirrels, has fallen disturbingly silent. The creek in the backyard has turned blue, registers a severely abnormal pH level of 9.9, and bobs with the floating heads of dead fish, they said. “Nothing is safe here, not my air, not my water. We are here alive and living but my fear is for our health,” Nathan insisted. Environmental Protection Agency administrator Michael Regan has promised to “get to the bottom” of the derailment. ‘Since the fire went out, EPA air monitoring has not detected any level of health concerns in the community that are attributed to the train derailment,” he said.