After toxic train crash in Ohio, Biden orders door-to-door checks

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden on Friday directed federal agencies to go door-to-door in East Palestine, Ohio, to check on families affected by a toxic train derailment that escalated into a heated political controversy.

Under Biden’s direction, teams from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Emergency Management Agency will visit homes starting Saturday. Workers will ask residents how they are doing, see what they need, and connect them with appropriate resources from government and nonprofits, the White House said.

The Walk Teams are modeled after similar groups after hurricanes and other natural disasters.

Biden ordered staff to visit as many homes as possible by Monday. Officials said the immediate goal was to visit at least 400 people. The president said he has no plans to visit Ohio in person at this time.

Meanwhile, the controversy has spread far beyond the small Ohio town. Texas and Michigan officials have expressed concern that contaminated sewage and soil are being shipped to their states for disposal.

Biden’s order came as Republicans in the House of Representatives launched an investigation into the February 3 train derailment, blaming Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg for what they believe was a belated response to the fiery derailment. Attention has been drawn to DOT even as the Environmental Protection Agency took charge of the federal action this week and ordered the Norfolk Southern Railroad to pay for cleanup and chemical release.

Rep. James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, has become the latest lawmaker to enter what has become a political proxy war as each side clashes with the other following a rail derailment and chemical leak that led to the evacuation of a small community Ohio.

“Despite the Department of Transportation’s responsibility to provide safe and reliable transportation in the United States, you ignored the disaster for over a week,” the Kentucky Republican wrote in a letter to Buttigieg. “The American people deserve answers about what caused the crash, and the DOT needs to explain its leadership’s apathy in the face of this emergency.”

A preliminary report released Thursday by the National Transportation Safety Board said the Norfolk Southern freight train crew received little warning before dozens of cars derailed and there was no indication the crew members did anything wrong. .

CONNECTED: 50-car train derailment causes massive fire and evacuation in Ohio

Republicans are calling the incident a moral failure on the part of the Biden administration, noting that Buttigieg failed to visit the site almost three weeks after the crash. Democrats point to a rollback by former President Donald Trump during his presidency that weakened railroad and environmental laws. Environmental Protection Agency administrator Michael Reagan visited the site last week and again on Tuesday.

Biden on Friday dismissed the notion that his administration was not involved in the relief effort.

“We were there two hours after the train went down. Two hours, Biden said at the White House. “I’ve talked to every major figure in both Pennsylvania and Ohio. And so the idea that we’re not engaged just doesn’t exist.”

A timeline released by the White House on Friday said DOT provided “initial incident notification” to members of the Ohio Congressional delegation and relevant committees on Saturday, Feb. 4, less than a day after the crash.

On the same day, the Environmental Protection Agency deployed real-time air monitoring instruments to 12 locations around the crash site and in the neighboring area, the White House said.

On Sunday, Feb. 5, White House staff contacted Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s office to offer additional federal assistance, according to the most detailed White House report on the initial federal response to the accident that led to the disaster. news watch.

The supervisory letter asks for documents and communications on when DOT leaders became aware of the crash and whether they received any guidance on what the public’s response should be, as well as any recent changes to the agency’s service and procedures.

A day earlier, Buttigieg visited the crash site for the first time and hit back at Trump, who had visited the day before and criticized the federal response.

Buttigieg told reporters that if the former president and current Republican presidential candidate had a strong opinion about stepping up rail safety efforts, “one thing he could do is show support for reversing deregulation, which happened during his hours.

On Friday, Buttigieg chided Comer for referencing the “National Transportation Safety Board DOT” in his letter, saying he was “alarmed to learn that the committee chairman” believes the NTSB is part of our Department. The NTSB is independent (and for good reason). However, of course, we will fully consider it and respond accordingly.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre criticized “the political tricks that we are seeing from the other side.”

Norfolk Southern said the NTSB report showed that the train’s thermal sensors were working as intended and the crew was operating “in accordance with company rules”. However, the company said it “needs to learn as much as possible from this event” and “develop methods and invest in technology that can help prevent similar incidents in the future.”

Among the freight cars that derailed on the outskirts of Eastern Palestine, near the Pennsylvania state line, were 11 wagons full of hazardous materials. Residents evacuated due to fears of a possible explosion from smoldering debris.

Concerned about the uncontrolled explosion, officials released and burned toxic vinyl chloride from five railroad cars, sending flames and black smoke into the sky. This made people think about the possible health consequences, although the authorities claimed they were doing everything they could to protect people.

“This incident represents an environmental and public health emergency that now threatens Americans out of state,” Comer and nearly two dozen Republicans wrote in their letter to Buttigieg.

The environmental controversy has extended more than 1,000 miles to Texas, where a Harris County official raised questions about the transportation and disposal of toxic sewage that had been moved to suburban Houston from the Ohio crash site.

County Judge Lina Hidalgo said half a million gallons of wastewater from the facility was delivered to Deer Park, Texas, and another 1.5 million gallons are due to arrive. Waste water was delivered to Texas Molecular, which dumps hazardous waste into the ground for disposal.

Contaminated soil from the site will be trucked to a landfill near Ann Arbor, Michigan, Ohio Gov. DeWine’s office said, prompting a complaint from Rep. Debbie Dingell, Michigan.

“We were not informed of this claimed action,” said Dingell, who represents the area. She said she would contact DeWine’s office, as well as federal and Ohio State and Norfolk Southern officials, “to understand what’s being shipped … and how we keep all Michigan residents safe.”