President Biden to visit East Palestine, Ohio Friday
Trip comes just over a year after devastating train derailment
WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - A little more than a year ago, a Norfolk Southern train derailed, causing a massive chemical fire in East Palestine, Ohio. Friday, President Joe Biden travels to the eastern Ohio town to highlight the federal government’s response to the environmental disaster.
East Palestine is still recovering from an environmental disaster that released toxic chemicals and impacted the town’s drinking water.
According to the White House, the President will meet with local residents and discuss how the Administration is holding Norfolk Southern accountable for the derailment. The president says it’s working with state and local officials to support the eastern Ohio community as it moves forward. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre says the president was only recently invited by the president to visit.
“He’s going at the invite of the mayor. The president’s going to hear directly from local residents of East Palestine, this is a trip he has been wanting to make , wanting to make sure it is the right time to do, obviously when the derailment happened, the federal agencies were on the ground within hours and many of them have continued to be there, whether it’s the EPA or FEMA.”
Biden has faced withering criticism from congressional Republicans and former President Donald Trump for his delayed decision to visit East Palestine – more than a year after the train derailment. By contrast, Biden quickly visited the scenes of other disasters, including wildfires in Maui, flooding in Northern California and hurricanes in Florida.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre defended the president.
“What you will see in the president, that goes out there, whether it’s a red state, blue state, rural America, urban America to hear, to make sure he is a president for all especially when they are dealing with this awful , awful event that happened specifically in this community.”
Since last year’s train derailment, federal and state lawsuits have been filed against Norfolk Southern, and the bipartisan Railway Safety Act has stalled in Congress. Residents of East Palestine have repeatedly visited Washington to lobby for help.
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