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This dataset includes anonymized survey data collected in communities affected by the East Palestine train derailment, chemical spill, and fires. The survey was designed to capture community perceptions and experiences related to air, water, and soil sampling and testing; household and built environment impacts; and protective actions taken. Participants were eligible to participate if they were 18 years or older and lived or worked in an affected county as of February 3, 2023—the day of the derailment. The survey was open from July 20 to September 20, 2023, approximately six months after the incident. See "Notes" below for more details on the methods. The research was reviewed and approved by the Human Subjects in Research Ethics boards at the authors’ universities. This research is supported by the National Science Foundation (Award #2329409). 

Complex industrial disasters illustrate the challenges of underdeveloped public warning systems. Unlike most natural disasters, quickly identifying hazardous materials and assessing their threats is crucial for developing protective action recommendations (PARs) that guide household response in industrial crises. The 2023 East Palestine, Ohio (USA) train derailment, chemical spill, and fires revealed that gaps in rapidly identifying hazardous materials, and the threats they present, can severely impact the public warning system. As the crisis unfolded, responding agencies left crucial questions unanswered, leaving community members uncertain about their safety, the extent of environmental contamination, and what protective actions to take. It is imperative to study the drivers of household protective actions in the absence of a developed warning system and well-established PARS. To achieve this, we conducted a community survey in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia (n = 259) in response to the East Palestine crisis. We used multivariate logistic regressions to identify statistically significant explanatory factors that predict protective action response. Our findings reveal gaps in response, where challenges identifying and communicating hazards created environmental justice concerns. We provide policy recommendations to strengthen hazard identification and outline further work to include equity as a pillar of environmental disaster response.