You know, accident in East Palestine happens. The world and at least America shifts its

gaze to the terror of this one environmental incident. And I wonder what your thoughts

were given all the work you're doing in your community and everything you've been through.

What was like your reaction today? I should be ashamed of myself that I would laugh, but

I did. I just sort of chuckled because I was just like, this is nothing. Y'all getting

a little bit of what we get, we been getting.

Kathy Ferguson lives in Institute West Virginia, a small black town that's home to a factory

that produces carcinogenic chemicals in an area of the state called chemical valley for

all its industrial plants. For decades, residents have struggled to get the company that owns

the plant and the government to take their concerns seriously.

But in another small town, this one majority white and just four hours away, it's been

a completely different story. In February, a train carrying dangerous and volatile chemicals

derailed near the village of East Palestine on the eastern border of Ohio.

Tonight emergency crews desperately trying to get control of a potentially deadly situation

with a control detonation. For three days, warning residents, the burning wreckage of a

freight train could explode, sending shrapnel and toxic fumes a mile in every direction over

a rural Ohio community.

As the chemicals poured into the air and water in the area, and then residents complained

of health problems and worried about the future of their hometown, Kathy Ferguson felt empathy.

But there was also another emotion. Kathy watched as the disaster in East Palestine drew widespread

immediate coverage, action from the environmental protection agency, a bipartisan push to

connect stricter regulations on rail safety and an apology from the train company's CEO.

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