COLUMBIANA, Ohio — The early days following the East Palestine train derailment and fire were not kind to Lamppost Farm in Columbiana.
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“It was about a 50% hit on our first two weeks,” said Lamppost’s Steve Montgomery. “That was enough to make us kind of hit the panic button.”
His farm of cows, pigs, turkeys and chickens sits 8 miles northwest of the crash site and upstream, so away from the smoke and the runoff. He got calls asking whether their food products were safe to eat, and if their farm was safe to visit.
“We have an AirBnB on the farm, and we had people questioning whether it was safe to sleep in our AirBnB and drink the well water.”
He wasn’t alone.
“It’s been crazy, just absolute chaos,” said Pete Conkle, a local farmer who also runs the county soil and water conservation district. His office has been working with the Ohio Department of Agriculture to get farmers the soil, water and plant tissue testing they need.
Conkle said they are working “to give these farmers in our county some credible defense so they can say, 'yes, our products are still safe and here’s the proof of that,'” he said.
On hand today to meet with Conkle, Montgomery and other farmers was Senator Sherrod Brown.
“This is the kind of community that’s so often forgotten or exploited by corporate America. I’m here for the long haul. We’re still going to be here for months, for the next year, the next ten years working to make sure residents get the support they need, and that includes every farmer in Columbiana County and the surrounding area,” said Brown.
Brown sits on the Senate Agriculture Committee and is a co-sponsor of the Rail Safety Act, pushing Norfolk Southern to make the entire community whole, farmers included. Montgomery said the the railroad company has been very responsive to date.
“I think time will tell on the Norfolk Southern — just stay with us, let’s stay in the game, let’s see the effects of this. I mean, we’re a resilient community, and I think that will prove to be a good thing.”
