EAST PALESTINE — Village resident and mother of two Misti Allison sat before federal lawmakers last week and evoked the words of her late mother, who had lost her battle to cancer just two weeks before.

“My mom always told me you either find a way or you find an excuse,” Allison testified to the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation on March 22. “So it’s time to learn from this and move forward together. Let’s find a way and not another excuse.”

Allison is using her mother’s words to give a voice to the people of East Palestine who two months ago Monday had their lives turned upside down by the Norfolk Southern train derailment. That derailment dumped a mixture of hazardous materials into the countryside and ignited an immediate chemical fire the moment the train went off the tracks. A control burn and intentional release of vinyl chloride was conducted three days later to prevent the unstable tankers from exploding and potentially decimating the town that Allison calls home.

The burn that Allison described “as a bomb of vinyl chloride going off” has been criticized. Allison has been leading that criticism and calling attention to the plight of East Palestine as she has emerged as the face of disaster on the national stage.

Aside from testifying in front of the Senate panel and attending the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing, Allison has appeared on Fox News, CNN and national networks to remind the nation and the world that what has happened and is happening in East Palestine is “not a political issue, but a people issue.”

In February, Allison was invited to attend a small discussion led by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. It was during that meeting that Allison learned that the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee planned a hearing on protecting public health and the environment in response to the train disaster. She also learned that no East Palestine residents were set to attend.

Moms Clean Airforce, a nonprofit environmental advocacy group, was adamant that East Palestine mothers should be represented at the hearing. The nonprofit reached out to the EPA who reached out to Allison.

“I was nominated and I accepted the invitation to attend that Senate committee hearing,” Allison said. “While I was there, Senator (Maria) Cantwell ran into me in the hallway. She mentioned that the Commerce, Science, and Transportation committee that she chairs was having a hearing about train safety and the East Palestine train derailment soon and that she wanted to have a resident speak at the hearing. A week later, I received a call from Senator Cantwell’s office inviting me to testify.”

Allison’s mother, Brenda Parsley, died on March 10. Parsley had been battling cancer for three years. As her mother’s fight against Stage IV lymphoma came to an end, Allison was just beginning to fight for East Palestine.

Before the train derailment she worried for her mother. Now, she worries for her children. She worries for all the children in East Palestine. She worries for their health. She worries for her own health. She worries about the lasting effects the derailment will have on her community.

“My mother had just passed away and I was shopping for a dress to wear to her funeral when I received the call,” she said. “While the timing was not ideal, I knew I had to advocate for the health and safety of my children and all the children in East Palestine and surrounding areas.”

Allison channeled her worry into action. She wants Norfolk Southern to do the right thing, now and in the future, as East Palestine faces a long road of uncertainty and anxiety. She expects the railroad to be there every step of the way of that journey, supporting the village in any and all ways that are needed. That includes long term health monitoring, ongoing water, air and soil testing, environmental remediation, financial compensation to offset the loss of property values and revitalizing the local economy hurt by the derailment.

Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw “has repeatedly said that Norfolk Southern will ‘make it right.’ But who determines what is right here?” she said. “East Palestine residents expect meaningful relief including short and long-term healthcare monitoring, home value protection and an actionable economic development plan including the Norfolk Southern training facility placed in our town.”

Allison was on Capitol Hill advocating for East Palestine when she received the news she was dreading. She was told that her mother had been flown by helicopter to University Hospitals in Cleveland and that “death was imminent.” Over the phone, Allison told her mother, who was unresponsive, to hold on until she could make it to her bedside. Allison flew into Pittsburgh at 9 p.m. and her and her husband, Aaron, drove to Cleveland. They arrived in Cleveland at 11:15 p.m.

“If you know my mom, you know she is a fighter and she waited for me to get there against all odds,” Allison said as she eulogized her mother. “It was her final gift of unwavering generosity. I was able to hold her hand, to talk to her, and to play some of her favorite songs. And at 1:07 a.m. she passed away surrounded by her family.”

The pain of losing her mother is still raw, and Allison is still grieving. But that heartbreak is compounded for the grief she feels for her town and its people. She also grieves for her peace of mind that went up in smoke with the vinyl chloride.

“This disaster has truly impacted the mental health of my family, which I don’t think many are discussing,” she said. “The anxiety is real. My family chose to move to East Palestine from the Cleveland area so we could raise our family in my husband’s hometown. We want to stay in East Palestine, but only if it’s safe. And it is difficult to truly know if it is safe to be here in the long-term and if we are making the right decision to stay. So the constant cost / benefit analysis of daily living is truly taxing.”

For now, East Palestine remains Allison’s home and she remains committed to shining a spotlight on the people struggling for a sense of normalcy in the middle of chaos.

“My family and I love East Palestine … It is the type of town where you know your neighbors and feel safe and connected,” she said. “The community is all about the children and we love all the positive happenings taking place at our church, library, park, and youth sports. I am confident that together, we can make sure that East Palestine and the surrounding areas not only recover but thrive — and that I will do everything I can to help East Palestine make the greatest comeback in American history.”