Maggie Guglielmo is living a business owner’s nightmare.

The head of Wristbands America (asi/98418), who was recently featured in a special ASI Media report on long-time members of the promotional products industry, said she’s not sure her supplier company will survive the fallout from a train derailment in her town of East Palestine, OH.

The Feb. 3 derailment and subsequent controlled release and burn, as authorities described it, of toxic chemicals that the train had been carrying, including vinyl chloride, has drawn international attention.

Visited a local creek in East Palestine today. These waterways are still very polluted. It’s time for Norfolk Southern to finish the cleanup. Check this video out: pic.twitter.com/4lsHBmrMJj

— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) February 16, 2023

“I don’t want to see our company die,” said Guglielmo. “If insurance doesn’t pay up, it doesn’t look good, but I’m exploring different avenues to keep it going.”

Guglielmo said her business is near ground zero – less than a mile from the crash site. The facility reeks of a powerful chemical odor, she said. So does her machinery and her stock of wristbands, which are Made-in-America at a factory in Indiana. Given concerns over the smell and potential contamination, the inventory is unsellable – a total loss, Guglielmo said.

“The inventory is now dead,” she added. “I won’t be running the equipment in the building. It needs to be taken out and cleaned.”

Guglielmo shared that she is having the facility tested for toxins. Results are pending. She’s worried what’s in circulation. Wristbands America remains closed.

“You can’t be in the building for more than a few minutes before your eyes start to water,” she said. “The odor is very powerful. I wore an N95 mask in there and that didn’t filter out the smell.”

Guglielmo plans to bring a lawsuit on behalf of her business against the railway operator, Norfolk Southern. As an individual, she’s also joining a larger lawsuit with other residents, she said.

“It’s just horrific what’s happened here,” Guglielmo stated.

It's been nearly two weeks since a train loaded with toxic chemicals derailed and burst into a raging inferno, and frustrated residents of East Palestine, Ohio, are demanding answers. @billweircnn explains what to know. https://t.co/AqZ2eFMyea pic.twitter.com/WcgZkD5Ile

— CNN (@CNN) February 16, 2023

Things have gone better for WC Bunting Co. (asi/42440), another East Palestine-based supplier. Specializing in drinkware and brandable food service items, the company’s facility was further away from the crash site, about a block outside what was, for a time, an evacuation zone.

Upon first returning to work after the crash, “the first three days we could not ship anything because none of the trucking companies nor UPS was picking up or delivering here,” said Patrick O’Hara, vice president of sales. “I had several shipments that had to ship so I took them to Youngstown where UPS’s terminal is. Fortunately, it’s not that far. The following Monday, service returned to normal and so have we.”

While the situation has improved for WC Bunting, press reports have indicated that the train derailment and subsequent chemical release and burn off has been a life-changing event for some residents in East Palestine, a community that sits on Ohio’s border with Pennsylvania. Due to fears over potentially poisoned water and air quality and thus possible health effects, some locals are considering leaving the area for good.

“It’s totally wrecked our life,” local John Hamner, who runs a garbage truck company, told BBC News. “I'm at the point now where I want out of here. We’re going to relocate. We can’t do it no more.”

Regarding contamination concerns and related issues, O’Hara said, “I believe that one of the biggest problems is that there is a tremendous amount of anxiety over whose word to trust. It is…a really bad situation.”