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One year ago, a train derailment upended my town. I’ll spend the rest of my life worrying.

Things are far from back to normal. There's still contamination, people who can't get treatment for what ails them, and the constant concern that every ache or pain could be cancer.

A black plume rises over East Palestine, Ohio, as a result of a controlled detonation of a portion of the derailed Norfolk Southern trains, Feb. 6, 2023.
A black plume rises over East Palestine, Ohio, as a result of a controlled detonation of a portion of the derailed Norfolk Southern trains, Feb. 6, 2023.Read moreGene J. Puskar / AP