Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is reportedly set to visit the site of a train derailment that released toxic chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio.
Buttigieg will visit the small town on Thursday, the Washington Examiner confirmed. He has faced widespread criticism for his slow response to the disaster in the Buckeye State.
OHIO TRAIN DERAILMENT: BUTTIGIEG SAYS HE’S ‘PLANNING TO GO’ TO EAST PALESTINE
“As the Secretary said, he would go when it is appropriate and wouldn’t detract from the emergency response efforts. The Secretary is going now that the EPA has said it is moving out of the emergency response phase and transitioning to the long-term remediation phase. His visit also coincides with the NTSB issuing its factual findings of the investigation into the cause of the derailment and will allow the Secretary to hear from USDOT investigators who were on the ground within hours of the derailment to support the NTSB’s investigation,” a spokesperson for the Department of Transportation told the Washington Examiner.
“The Environmental Protection Agency is leading the Federal response to hold Norfolk Southern accountable and make the company clean up its mess. That is how it works in response to a chemical spill. The Department of Transportation will continue to do its part by helping get to the bottom of what caused the derailment and implementing rail safety measures, and we hope this sudden bipartisan support for rail safety will result in meaningful changes in Congress,” the spokesperson added.
Buttigieg will visit with community members and receive an updated briefing from investigators during his visit, the department confirmed.
The secretary had previously stated he was “planning to go” to East Palestine but had not elaborated on the specific timeline.
“So I’m planning to go, and when I do, it will be focused on action, not on politics, not on show,” Buttigieg told CBS News on Tuesday. “In the early days, I had been respecting the role that the independent [National Transportation Safety Board] plays and staying out of their way, but we are now entering the policy part of our response to this. And even as the NTSB continues finalizing their work, this is the right time for us to be looking at immediate steps from the USDOT.”
The train that derailed on the evening of Feb. 3 in East Palestine, Ohio, had 20 cars carrying hazardous materials. Of those, 11 derailed, causing environmental and safety concerns in the surrounding rural area.
The NTSB said 38 train cars came off the tracks, and fire damaged an additional 12 train cars. The area near the derailment was evacuated in the days after the incident due to concerns about the materials on the train, including vinyl chloride, phosgene, and hydrogen chloride.
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Buttigieg remained silent on the matter for 10 days and was widely criticized for discussing equity in construction jobs before addressing the disaster.
Former President Donald Trump is visiting the small Ohio town Wednesday and has reportedly offered to donate supplies to residents affected by the disaster.
