Despite President Joe Biden’s vow to visit the scene of the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, the White House announced on Monday that he still had no plans to do so.
Biden stated last week that he will visit the region, which suffered a deadly chemical spill following the train disaster and faces a lengthy cleaning, ‘at some point’
Biden’s administration, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in particular, came under fire for their sluggish response to the catastrophe.
As a Norfolk Southern train derailed and released hundreds of thousands of pounds of poisonous chemicals into the air, land, and water around a tiny Ohio hamlet 31 days ago, 5,000 people were forced to leave and tens of thousands of animals perished.
In the subsequent weeks, officials conducted an extensive cleanup effort.
More than 700 tons of contaminated soil and over two million gallons of liquid have been removed from the derailment site, according to Ohio officials, but the Environmental Protection Agency has ordered that much more be cleaned up.
Republican Ohio Governor Michael DeWine urged Biden to visit East Palestine.
DeWine stated in an interview with Fox News, ‘The president needs to come. The people want to see the president. He should be there.’
Buttigieg has become the administration’s scapegoat and has taken the offensive over his agency’s response. Twenty days after the tragedy, he visited East Palestine on February 23.
Former President Donald Trump had visited the town the day prior and accused the Biden administration of ‘indifference and treachery’ towards the community.
Buttigieg told CNN on Monday that he should have visited earlier. Yet, he asserted that his conservative detractors were faking anger for the 4,700-person community with a $46,000 median household income.
He referred to Trump’s visit as somewhat infuriating’, stating: ‘To see someone who did so much to undermine not only rail safety regulations but also the EPA, which is the only thing standing between that community and a total loss of accountability for Norfolk Southern, then show up handing out bottled water and campaign materials?’
The incident on February 3 at the Ohio-Pennsylvania border town caused the derailment of hundreds of cars, including some carrying a total of 1,600,000 pounds of dangerous chemicals.
Five tank trucks contained about 900,000 pounds of vinyl chloride, a hazardous industrial chemical related to liver damage at high exposure levels.
The train derailment resulted in a fire that burned for many days. More than a million gallons of water were utilized by firefighters to combat the blaze, which led to soil pollution.
