美国国家公共电台 NPR--Residents near Ohio train derailment find it nearly impossible to sell their home

Residents near Ohio train derailment find it nearly impossible to sell their home

Transcript¹

The Norfolk Southern train derailment and the release of toxic² chemicals that followed has hurt the housing market in East Palestine, Ohio.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

The train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, has been terrible for the local real estate market. Potential buyers say they're worried about about the toxic aftermath. Oliver Morrison from member station WESA reports.

OLIVER MORRISON, BYLINE³: Patrick and Ruth Souders spent much of their savings⁴ - a hundred thousand dollars - on their dream home six years ago, and they're proud of showing off the work they've done to it since.

PATRICK SOUDERS: The upstairs and downstairs bath, remodeled the laundry room, put a new wood floor in.

MORRISON: The home has a massive barn where Ruth's daughter, Haylee, can practice riding horses.

(SOUNDBITE OF GATE OPENING)

MORRISON: It's paid off. Haylee won the all-around cowgirl prize this year. Now the Souders' dream house is anything but. They sent their daughter away to live elsewhere. And these days, they're worried about chemical contamination. They can see the site of the train derailment from their porch. And when the accident occurred, Patrick Souders was one of the residents that didn't leave home.

SOUDERS: This is the culmination⁵ of all my life's efforts. Everything I have in the world is here. This is it - the family, the animals, the house.

MORRISON: There are about 2,000 homes in this small, rural town. Before the derailment, big, older houses in East Palestine generally sold for less than $200,000. Newer ones on the outskirts⁶ cost more than twice as much. Realtor Holly⁷ Ritchie says these days, buyers have lost interest.

HOLLY RITCHIE: Three homes that were supposed to close within the two weeks after the derailment, they just didn't buy it.

MORRISON: There's huge concern about the environmental impact of the derailment. Norfolk Southern and government agencies say official samples of the air and water in East Palestine show that it's safe. Now the train company is in the process of cleaning up the area and says the work may cause alarming odors and will last one or two more months. It's offered to pay for residents to live elsewhere while the work continues.

That's not comforting to Jennifer Yonker and her husband. Her husband had a health emergency and now has trouble walking up and down the stairs in their home. They put their home on the market six weeks before the derailment. While they had several interested families come look at the home before the accident, there's been nothing since. Jennifer says the only help Norfolk Southern offered her early on was a $1,000 inconvenience check.

JENNIFER YONKER: One gentleman at Norfolk Southern told me that I needed to take that money because it was a lot of money and it could really help me out. And I said, sir, what I really need is for you to write me a check for 169,900, which is what I had my house listed for prior to the derailment. But you're not going to do that.

MORRISON: The long-term impact on home values could persist, according to Jesse Saginor, a professor at Florida Atlantic University. He studies contamination's impact on real estate and says the stigma⁸ of the derailment will likely remain, regardless of what is actually found on properties.

JESSE SAGINOR: Some markets might rebound⁹ much faster if you have a lot of population growth and people need places to live. In rural areas, that rebound might not be as quick because there's not necessarily a huge demand for real estate.

MORRISON: And that can be extremely frustrating¹⁰ for residents like Melissa and Ryan Henry, who were in the process of getting a divorce and trying to sell their home. Their realtor says their four-bedroom home could have gone for its full list price of $150,000. Melissa says the one offer they've received since the derailment is insulting.

MELISSA HENRY: We are literally¹¹ stuck in this house, and it's not even that it's just stuck with him. I'm stuck in this contaminated, infested¹², chemical-bound house, and we're sick and we've never been this sick. And I'm just - I want out.

MORRISON: Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw would not commit to compensating¹³ families for any loss of property values during a Senate committee hearing on the derailment. Lawyers say homeowners could ultimately be compensated¹⁴ through a class-action lawsuit¹⁵. In the meantime, many East Palestine residents don't know what to do with their homes.

For NPR News, I'm Oliver Morrison in East Palestine.

(SOUNDBITE OF MOONCAKE'S "NOVOROSSIYSK 1968")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

5 culmination   

n.顶点；最高潮

参考例句：

• The space race reached its culmination in the first moon walk.太空竞争以第一次在月球行走而达到顶峰。
• It may truly be regarded as the culmination of classical Greek geometry.这确实可以看成是古典希腊几何的登峰造级之作。

6 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

7 holly   

n.[植]冬青属灌木

参考例句：

• I recently acquired some wood from a holly tree.最近我从一棵冬青树上弄了些木料。
• People often decorate their houses with holly at Christmas.人们总是在圣诞节时用冬青来装饰房屋。

8 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。

9 rebound   

v.弹回；n.弹回，跳回

参考例句：

• The vibrations accompanying the rebound are the earth quake.伴随这种回弹的振动就是地震。
• Our evil example will rebound upon ourselves.我们的坏榜样会回到我们自己头上的。

10 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

12 infested   

adj.为患的，大批滋生的（常与with搭配）v.害虫、野兽大批出没于( infest的过去式和过去分词 )；遍布于

参考例句：

• The kitchen was infested with ants. 厨房里到处是蚂蚁。
• The apartments were infested with rats and roaches. 公寓里面到处都是老鼠和蟑螂。

13 compensating   

补偿，补助，修正

参考例句：

• I am able to set up compensating networks of nerve connections. 我能建立起补偿性的神经联系网。
• It is desirable that compensating cables be run in earthed conduit. 补偿导线最好在地下管道中穿过。

14 compensated   

补偿，报酬( compensate的过去式和过去分词 )； 给（某人）赔偿（或赔款）

参考例句：

• The marvelous acting compensated for the play's weak script. 本剧的精彩表演弥补了剧本的不足。
• I compensated his loss with money. 我赔偿他经济损失。

15 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。