Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from producer Raymond Rapada. Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Eli | Email Lauren More than a year after a train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, President JOE BIDEN is finally set to make his long-awaited visit to a community still picking up the pieces from last February’s toxic chemical spill. To understand the significance of Friday's trip, West Wing Playbook called MISTI ALLISON, an East Palestine resident who lives with her family just over a mile from the derailment site. Allison, a member of Moms Clean Air Force, ran for mayor after the disaster struck, but lost to the incumbent. This conversation has been edited for length. What are people still facing in East Palestine? A lot of progress has been made but there’s still so much more to do — there is still cleanup that will be happening. Then there are some people who are expressing symptoms and some people who are completely fine. What are those symptoms? From the very beginning, there were more acute symptoms, like headaches, nausea, and different respiratory symptoms. Now that we’re one year in, what I’m concerned about is changing from these acute symptoms to more long-term, chronic symptoms. There have been quite a few people who have developed asthma since the derailment. And this definitely was a very high-stress situation. The anxiety is still real in East Palestine. You’re a mom of two young kids. How have you handled that anxiety as a parent? My son, in particular — I’m very concerned about the trauma component of this disaster. He’s had a couple of horrific bloody noses, and when we first came back after being evacuated, he asked if he was going to die from being in his own home. He’s jumped in puddles like kids normally do outside when it’s raining, and then looked up at me and said, “Is there vinyl chloride in the puddles? Am I OK to jump in the puddles?” As a mother, that just absolutely breaks your heart. Do you wish President Biden would’ve come sooner? I’m glad he’s coming now. In the very beginning, it was all about the cleanup phase, but I think that we have a big opportunity a year in to really focus on what we need to move East Palestine forward, to move our country forward in making sure that this never happens again. And so I think the president and administration can help with long-term strategic impact. The cleanup is ongoing and they have a plan to do that, but what keeps me up at night is not knowing with certainty that my family is safe living in East Palestine. How is the community reacting to the visit? I’m more hopeful and optimistic than others. On Facebook, a lot of individuals are worried that this is going to be a political stunt, and a photo opportunity because it is an election year. There are some individuals that have said, “Oh, well it’s too little, too late.” The overall sentiment in the area is probably more negative than it is positive. But I am glad that President Biden is following through with his promise because while we are strong and resilient people, we also deserve to be heard. What do you want to see and hear from Biden? Specifically for East Palestine, we need immediate and long-term health care. Potentially financial resources, indoor air testing, water assessments, other critical testing for the long term. And God forbid, that some individuals do present with some long-term serious ailments like cancer or asthma or other respiratory issues, that we will be taken care of. Back in Washington, it’s really important that President Biden direct the EPA to address the issue of these toxic chemicals. I’ve spent a lot of time in the past year helping to get this Railway Safety Act of 2023 passed. I really want to get that over the line. And so I hope that he is able to influence some of these different areas of government to be able to make some big changes. You can get briefings on what’s going on, but I think it’s so important to come to an area like this so you can see this really does transcend politics. This is about families like mine that are absolutely terrified and need to have hope and faith that the government does have our back. MESSAGE US — Are you LEE SLATER, deputy director of legislative affairs? We want to hear from you. And we’ll keep you anonymous! Email us at westwingtips@politico.com. Did someone forward this email to you? Subscribe here!
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