Home Care In East Palestine, OH

Norfolk Southern railroad worked with the state of Ohio and Youngstown State University to revive plans for a $20 million first responder training center near the site of the worst derailment in a decade in East Palestine, Ohio.

Building a training center to help prepare firefighters to deal with a railroad disaster was quickly part of the plan after the derailment on Feb. 3, 2023, that forced the evacuation of roughly half the small town near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border and left residents with worries about the potential long-term health impacts.

But Norfolk Southern said last January that East Palestine officials had agreed with the railroad as part of the town’s $22 million settlement that the training center wasn’t going to be feasible because of concerns about the ongoing operating costs. The railroad even agreed to give 15 acres of land it had bought for the center to the town.

Now the railroad is going to partner with Youngstown State to build and operate the training center to help prepare first responders to deal with the unique challenges of a train derailment that can spill hazardous chemicals being carried in railcars. In East Palestine, the derailed train cars burned for days, and officials decided to blow open five tank cars of vinyl chloride because they feared those cars might explode.

“By working together, we’ve turned this vision of an economic and educational center dedicated to enhancing community safety into a sustainable reality,” railroad CEO Mark George said.

The railroad has committed more than $135 million to help the town recover from the derailment and agreed to pay $600 million in a class-action settlement with residents, though those settlement payments are on hold because of a pending appeal and accounting problems with the first company that was distributing checks.

Local East Palestine first responders will have free access to training at the facility. Mayor Trent Conaway said this will “better prepare them to serve our village and the communities in our region.”

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — On Friday, various local, state and federal officials and other stakeholders announced the updated plans to the first responder training facility in East Palestine, the town where the infamous 2023 Norfolk Southern train derailment took place.

What You Need To Know

The training facility, which Norfolk Southern had agreed to build, was meant to help “expand access to firefighter training, particularly in regard to hazardous material fires,” according to a press release from Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s office.

DeWine had first announced this training center shortly after the train derailment back in 2023. However, the release states that the “plans for the training facility were reimagined and enhanced to include higher education opportunities and ensure long-term viability of the facility.”

"Developing this plan was truly a collaborative effort involving those from the White House to the Statehouse to the community of East Palestine," DeWine said in the release. "Incorporating higher education and workforce development into this new training facility will deepen its impact, preparing today's first responders as well as the next generation of brave men and women who dedicate themselves to protecting the public and saving lives."

These updates came—according to the governor’s office—after Vice President JD Vance visited the town in January this year and with backing from DeWine, Republican Ohio senators Bernie Moreno and Jon Husted as well as Rep. Mike Rulli, R-Ohio, District 6.

“This is a great day for the Village of East Palestine,” East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway said in the release. “Our first responders, as well as first responders from all over the region, will soon have a state-of-the-art facility to learn and train in, to better prepare them to serve our village and the communities in our region. By pairing Youngstown State’s academic programming with the ability of our own department to access and run regional trainings at this facility, this partnership will address the workforce challenges in emergency services from multiple angles.”

This new agreement will see the rail company giving Youngstown State University (YSU) $20 million in funding for the center’s design and constriction as well as for them to operate it through the Department of Chemical and Biological Sciences and Forensic Science.

Emergency response agencies within East Palestine get “free, priority access” to the center, which will also be a resource for YSU students, according to the release. It also states that this agreement also includes “a long-term endowment plan” to keep the center going and growing.

“Youngstown State University’s rebranded and expanded workforce education focus is empowering us to equip the Mahoning Valley and the region with the essential skills needed to face the economic challenges of today and tomorrow," YSU President Bill Johnson said in the release. "We are deeply honored to participate in this $20 million public-private partnership with the Ohio Department of Public Safety, Norfolk Southern, and the village of East Palestine to develop a state-of-the-art Fire Science and Public Safety Training Facility that will serve first responders across Ohio and beyond.”

The location for this center has not yet been announced.

Mark George, the president and CEO at Norfolk Southern, thanked the various government officials and others for their leadership in the process.

“By working together, we’ve turned this vision of an economic and educational center dedicated to enhancing community safety into a sustainable reality,” he said in the release. “We are proud to provide this $20 million grant to help advance this training center for the region’s brave first responders, fire science students and the broader community.”