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If there's one thing to be learned from the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, it's that our local communities, both big and small, must be better prepared for the unexpected. Officials in Wellsville, Ohio, made the right call last week by initiating discussions on forming a new emergency plan that takes into account how to evacuate the village and where to send residents in the event of a large-scale emergency.
"Trains run through here every day. There are trains that haul the same stuff that was in the train" that derailed in East Palestine, village fire Chief Barry Podwel said. "When the tracks were closed in East Palestine, they brought the trains down through here."
"It could happen to us," Mayor Bob Boley added. "Who would have thought it would happen in East Palestine?"
He's exactly right -- no one in East Palestine went to bed on Feb. 3 expecting to be awoken by a train derailment shortly before midnight -- an event that would disrupt their lives and their community.
"My questions to myself and to everybody in Wellsville is 'what if' and where would our people go if that happened in Wellsville," Boley said. "Everybody in Wellsville would have to be evacuated. This is information we truly need and we need the public's involvement. It's a serious thought. We really need to start thinking 'what if.'"
And that question needs to be asked not only in Wellsville, but in every community in our region. Many water systems draw their water directly from the Ohio River. What is the contingency plan if another incident seriously pollutes the water?
Do all of our municipalities with water treatment systems have plans in place if the main water intakes have to be shut down for more than a day or two?
Now is a good time for our local leaders to pull out the emergency plans and review them to ensure they remain applicable. If emergency plans don't exist, now is a good time to develop them -- while what happened in East Palestine remains at top of mind. This should be an easy step to help ensure, should the unexpected happen, our local communities are as prepared as possible.