Goya Foods is shipping ready-to-serve meals and beverages to East Palestine so those affected by the Ohio train derailment don’t have to worry about ingesting contaminated meals.
The New Jersey-based company is sending food and drinks that don’t require tap water to prepare, including pre-hydrated beans and coconut water that contains potassium.
“The impact of this disaster is devastating on both the community and the environment. East Palestine has been treated like a forgotten town, and while this may be a small community, it is not a forgotten community by Goya,” said Bob Unanue, the company’s president and CEO, said in a statement Monday.
Goya is distributing the meals with the help of community resource center Way Station, Unanue said.
The multi-billion-dollar company’s announcement comes just two days after the federal government finally sent Federal Emergency Management Agency officials to the site of the toxic train derailment despite originally claiming the tragedy didn’t qualify for assistance.
Residents of East Palestine and the surrounding area had been pleading for federal help since the Feb. 3 tragedy that released a chemical plume, contaminated local streams and forced an evacuation of roughly 5,000 panicked residents.
The 151-car train crash contaminated at least 15,000 pounds of soil and 1.1 million gallons of water so far, Norfolk Southern said Tuesday.
Officials didn’t elaborate on what chemicals were found in the earth, but it was already known that the train was transporting hazardous materials, including the known cancer-causing agent vinyl chloride.
Thousands of fish, wildlife and sickened pets have already been killed by the “controlled release” and burn of the hazardous materials to avoid a major explosion, putting into question what the effect will be on humans.
Federal politicians — including President Biden and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg — have avoided the Ohio village since the derailment.
Biden instead visited Ukraine Monday, sparking outrage from East Palestine officials who have been begging for assistance for weeks.
“That was the biggest slap in the face,” Mayor Trent Conaway said.
“That tells you right now he doesn’t care about us.”