In response to the toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, US President Joe Biden has ordered federal agencies to go door-to-door in the area to check on families affected by the incident. Teams from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency will visit homes starting Saturday, asking how residents are doing, seeing what they need and connecting them with appropriate resources. The immediate goal is to visit at least 400 homes by Monday.
Republicans in the House of Representatives have opened an investigation into the February 3 derailment, blaming Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg for what they contend was a delayed response. The EPA took charge of the federal response this week and ordered Norfolk Southern railway to pay for the cleanup and chemical release. Meanwhile, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released a preliminary report stating that the crew operating the Norfolk Southern freight train did not get much warning before dozens of cars went off the tracks.
Biden rejected the notion that his administration has not been present in providing assistance, noting that they were there two hours after the train went down. Democrats point to rollbacks former Republican President Donald Trump made during his term that weakened rail and environmental regulations. EPA Administrator Michael Regan visited the site last week and again on Tuesday, while Buttigieg made his first visit to the crash site and hit back at Trump.
The Oversight Committee has requested documents and communications concerning when DOT leaders learned of the derailment and whether they received any guidance about what the public response should be, as well as any recent changes to agency train maintenance and procedures. Norfolk Southern said the NTSB report showed the train’s heat detectors worked as intended and the crew operated “within the company’s rules”.
Worried about an uncontrolled blast, officials released and burned toxic vinyl chloride from five rail cars, sending flames and black smoke into the sky. This left people questioning potential health effects, though authorities maintained they were doing their best to protect people. The freight cars that derailed included 11 carrying hazardous materials, leading to an evacuation of the small Ohio community.
The environmental controversy extended more than 1,000 miles to Texas, where a Harris County official raised questions about the transportation and disposal of toxic wastewater that was moved to a Houston suburb from the site of the Ohio derailment. County Judge Lina Hidalgo said 1,892,706 litres (500,000 gallons) of wastewater from the site had been delivered to Deer Park, Texas, with another 5,678,118 litres (1.5 million gallons) set to arrive.
In response to this incident, US President Joe Biden has ordered federal agencies to go door-to-door in East Palestine, Ohio to check on families affected by the toxic train derailment. Teams from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency will visit homes beginning on Saturday, asking how residents are doing, seeing what they need and connecting them with appropriate resources from government and nonprofit organisations. The immediate goal is to visit at least 400 homes by Monday.
Republicans have opened an investigation into the February 3 derailment, blaming Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg for what they contend was a delayed response. Democrats point to rollbacks former Republican President Donald Trump made during his term that weakened rail and environmental regulations. EPA Administrator Michael Regan visited the site last week and again on Tuesday, while Buttigieg made his first visit to the crash site and hit back at Trump.
The Oversight Committee has requested documents and communications concerning when DOT leaders learned of the derailment and whether they received any guidance about what the public response should be, as well as any recent changes to agency train maintenance and procedures. Norfolk Southern said the NTSB report showed the train’s heat detectors worked as intended and the crew operated “within the company’s rules”. The freight cars that derailed included 11 carrying hazardous materials, leading to an evacuation of the small Ohio community.
Worried about an uncontrolled blast, officials released and burned toxic vinyl chloride from five rail cars, sending flames and black smoke into the sky. This left people questioning potential health effects, though authorities maintained they were doing their best to protect people. The environmental controversy extended more than 1,000 miles to Texas, where a Harris County official raised questions about the transportation and disposal of toxic wastewater that was moved to a Houston suburb from the site of the Ohio derailment.
In response to this incident, US President Joe Biden has ordered federal agencies to go door-to-door in East Palestine, Ohio to check on families affected by the toxic train derailment. Teams from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), EPA and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will visit homes beginning on Saturday, asking how residents are doing, seeing what they need and connecting them with appropriate resources from government and nonprofit organisations. The immediate goal is to visit at least 400 homes by Monday.
Republicans have opened an investigation into the February 3 derailment, blaming Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg for what they contend was a delayed response. Democrats point to rollbacks former Republican President Donald Trump made during his term that weakened rail and environmental regulations. EPA Administrator Michael Regan visited the site last week and again on Tuesday, while Buttigieg made his first visit to the crash site and hit back at Trump.
The Oversight Committee has requested documents and communications concerning when DOT leaders learned of the derailment and whether they received any guidance about what the public response should be, as well as any recent changes to agency train maintenance and procedures. Norfolk Southern said the NTSB report showed the train’s heat detectors worked as intended and the crew operated “within the company’s rules”. The freight cars that derailed included 11 carrying hazardous materials, leading to an evacuation of the small Ohio community.
The White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has excoriated the “political stunts that we’re seeing from the other side” regarding this incident. Worried about an uncontrolled blast, officials released and burned toxic vinyl chloride from five rail cars, sending flames and black smoke into the sky. This left people questioning potential health effects, though authorities maintained they were doing their best to protect people.
The environmental controversy extended more than 1,000 miles to Texas, where a Harris County official raised questions about the transportation and disposal of toxic wastewater that was moved to a Houston suburb from the site of the Ohio derailment. County Judge Lina Hidalgo said 1,892,706 litres (500,000 gallons) of wastewater from the site had been delivered to Deer Park, Texas, with another 5,678,118 litres (1.5 million gallons) set to arrive.
In response to this incident in East Palestine, Ohio, US President Joe Biden has ordered federal agencies to go door-to-door in order to check on families affected by the toxic train derailment. Teams from CDC, EPA and FEMA will visit homes starting Saturday, asking how residents are doing, seeing what they need and connecting them with appropriate resources. The immediate goal is to visit at least 400 homes by Monday.
Republicans have opened an investigation into this incident, blaming Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg for what they contend was a delayed response. Democrats point to rollbacks former Republican President Donald Trump made during his term that weakened rail and environmental regulations. EPA Administrator Michael Regan visited the site last week and again on Tuesday, while Buttigieg made his first visit to the crash site and hit back at Trump.
The Oversight Committee has requested documents and communications concerning when DOT leaders learned of the derailment and whether they received any guidance about what the public response should be, as well as any recent changes to agency train maintenance and procedures. Norfolk Southern said the NTSB report showed that crew operating their freight train did not get much warning before dozens of cars went off tracks and that their heat detectors worked as intended.
The White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has criticized political stunts by Republicans regarding this incident. Worried about an uncontrolled blast due to hazardous materials on board of derailed cars, officials released and burned toxic vinyl chloride from five rail cars, sending flames and black smoke into the sky. This left people questioning potential health effects, though authorities maintained they were doing their best to protect people.
The environmental controversy extended more than 1,000 miles to Texas where a Harris County official raised questions about transportation and disposal of toxic wastewater from Ohio derailment site. County Judge Lina Hidalgo said 1,892,706 litres (500,000 gallons) of wastewater had been delivered to Deer Park with another 5,678,118 litres (1.5 million gallons) set to arrive for disposal in Texas Molecular facility.
In response to this incident in East Palestine, Ohio US President Joe Biden has directed federal agencies to go door-to-door in order to check on families affected by toxic train derailment. Teams from CDC, EPA and FEMA will visit homes beginning on Saturday asking how residents are doing, seeing what they need and connecting them with appropriate resources from government and nonprofit organisations. The immediate goal is to visit at least 400 homes by Monday in order to provide assistance in this emergency situation.