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This is Fresh Air. I'm Tanya Mosley.

This time last year, East Palestine, Ohio became a household name after 38 freight cars derailed there,

igniting a massive chemical fire, releasing vinyl chloride, which is considered a toxin into the air and water.

Norfolk Southern, a rail system that owns those freight cars, is still cleaning up the

environmental damage.

And many who live in East Palestine say they've been displaced or are now plagued with health problems.

That derailment has revealed some of the long-standing challenges of America's aging freight

railway systems.

It's the subject of a ProPublica series called Train Country,

Investigating Railroad Safety in America.

Reporter Tofer Sanders has been the last two years with his colleagues

reviewing court and regulatory records of thousands of incidents involving trains.

They conducted 200 interviews including conversations with rail workers who describe how in some instances

railway companies have sidestepped best practices.

In addition to reporting on railroad safety, Tover Sanders was part of a team that covered the Trump administration's

family separation policy, for which they won a Peabody Award

and were finalists for a Pulitzer Prize.

Tofer Sanders, welcome to Fresh Air.

Thank you for having me.

The Federal Railroad Administration

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