It had just finished raining and the Sulphur Run creek bank In East Palestine, Ohio, was slippery. Steve Mellon, a Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist, carefully followed Christina Siceloff into the shallow water below.
More than 18 months had passed since a train carrying thousands of gallons of toxic chemicals derailed nearby in February 2023. The creek developed a metallic sheen and gave off a chemical scent. In September, 2024, Siceloff, a resident who lived a few miles away over the Pennsylvania border, was continuing to document the accident’s impacts, accompanied by Mellon.
Mellon was one of the few journalists from any major outlet still on the ground in East Palestine. But none of his reporting on it has been published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette — the paper where he made his name and remains technically employed. Instead, it appeared in the smaller, online-only Pittsburgh Union Progress that he helped start with his co-workers.
The Union Progress was created as a strike publication after Pittsburgh Post-Gazette journalists walked off the job in an unfair labor practice strike in October 2022. It’s now the longest ongoing strike in the country, according to the International Communications Workers of America.
