Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is in East Palestine, Ohio, on Thursday, as the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is expected to release the initial results of its investigation into the derailment of a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous substances.
The 38-car train that crashed Feb. 3 has sparked serious health and environmental concerns for the area’s residents, who have expressed frustration over the slowness of the federal government’s response to the crisis.
Buttigieg arrived at the site of the derailment just before 8 a.m. local time Thursday. He is expected to meet with local residents and receive an update on the NTSB’s investigation.
“This morning I’m in East Palestine, Ohio, to see the site of the Norfolk Southern derailment, hear updates from investigators, and meet first responders. USDOT will continue its work to ensure safety and accountability,” Buttigieg said in a tweet, which included a video of him and others at the site receiving information about the derailment.
In an interview with CBS News on Tuesday, Buttigieg said he didn’t visit East Palestine sooner because he wanted to give the NTSB and emergency workers space to do their jobs.
“I have followed the normal practice of transportation secretaries in the early days after a crash, allowing NTSB to lead the safety work and staying out of their way,” he said. “But I am very eager to have conversations with people in East Palestine about how this is impacted them.”
A Department of Transportation spokesperson reiterated Wednesday ahead of the visit that Buttigieg would go when “appropriate” and when a trip “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,” the spokesperson said. “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.”
Federal Railroad Administration Administrator Amit Bose and Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration Deputy Administrator Tristan Brown are joining the secretary on his visit.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan previously visited East Palestine and participated in a townhall hosted by CNN on Wednesday, during which he answered questions from residents. He sought to quell hesitations from residents about bringing their families back to their homes in East Palestine and said he would raise his children there based on air and water readings that show safe levels.
“I understand the skepticism, as a father. I’m a father first and foremost. I understand the skepticism, but what I can tell you is what the science tells us and that these readings are indicating that there are safe levels,” he said.
Regan said there have not been readings above levels that would cause adverse health impacts.
Alan Shaw, the CEO of Norfolk Southern, told residents during the townhall Wednesday that the company has exited the “emergency phase” and is working with the EPA on a “long-term remediation plan.”
Buttigieg’s trip comes one day after former President Trump visited the town. Trump praised the local officials for helping in “an hour of need,” before blasting the Biden administration’s response as a “betrayal.” When asked about the fact that Buttigieg hadn’t already traveled to East Palestine, Trump said, “He should have been here a long time ago.”
The village’s residents, too, have been calling on Buttigieg or the president to visit.
“Where is Pete Buttigieg? Where’s he at?” one attendee asked East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway, a Republican, during a Feb. 15 town hall, according to a video taken by CBS affiliate WOIO CBS in Ohio.
“I don’t know,” Conaway responded.
In an appearance on Fox News on Monday Conaway said that in light of the fact that the president has not visited East Palestine since the derailment, Mr. Biden’s trip to Ukraine came as the “biggest slap in the face.”
Jacob Rosen contributed to this report
