The village of East Palestine will be holding a virtual symposium on Thursday, August 3, which marks exactly six months since the train derailment disaster in the village.

The symposium will begin at noon and will examine how life has changed for residents of East Palestine and its surrounding communities over the past six months.

Residents and members of the East Palestine Unity Council will be discussing the derailment aftermath and the impact it's had on their lives during a panel at 12:15 p.m.

Additionally, various researchers will be at the symposium to review the available science, what is still unknown and what researchers and residents need to know.

These experts include:

- Dr. Erin Haynes -  Professor and Chair, Epidemiology and Environmental Health at the College of Public Health, University of Kentucky 

- Molly Jacobs - Director of Applied Research at the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production at the University of Massachusetts Lowell 

- Dr. Andrew Welton Professor of Civil Engineering and Environmental Ecological Engineering at Purdue University 

This panel will take place at 1:40 p.m. and will be moderated by Science and Environmental Health Network Science Director, Dr. Ted Schettler.

A third panel at 2:40 p.m. will discuss how to prevent similar disasters in the future, as well as increase accountability and transparency. Pennsylvania Senator, Katie Muth will appear at this panel along with representatives from Rail Pollution Protection Pittsburgh and Dream.org.

Finally, at 4:05 p.m. there will be breakout discussions on policy advocacy, science advocacy and connecting impacted communities and workers.

You can register for the virtual symposium here.