Ad
Supported by
President Biden has been under pressure since the oil spill just a year ago as citizens express frustration with the federal response.
By Erica L. Verde
Report from Washington
President Biden will travel to East Palestine, Ohio, in February to mark the one-year anniversary of the poisonous derailment that plunged the tiny network into an environmental and health crisis, the White House announced Wednesday.
Mr. Biden has faced criticism from political leaders and residents for delaying a visit, which he had promised to make one month after the Feb. 3, 2023, derailment. The White House did not specify when in February Mr. Biden would visit.
Biden’s leadership has sent a slew of resources to eastern Palestine and is overseeing cleanup efforts through Norfolk Southern, the railroad company responsible for the derailment. Management argued that the company deserves to be held at fault for the costs of cleanup and other corrective measures.
But political tension has risen as citizens have expressed deep fears about the spread continuing and Republicans have seized on the issue. Former President Donald J. Trump, Biden’s most likely rival in the presidential election, visited eastern Palestine a few weeks ago. after the crisis and told the crowd, “You are forgotten. “
Biden will meet with citizens affected by the derailment on its scale next month, an administration official said in the statement.
The exercise was carrying more than 700,000 pounds of vinyl chloride, a carcinogen used to produce pipe, furniture and packaging, when it went off the track. The derailment saturated the city’s soil, air and waterways with toxins, and the fires created huge plumes of poisonous smoke. on the town, which borders Pennsylvania.
We are retrieving the content of the article.
Please allow javascript in your browser settings.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience as we determine access.
Already subscribed? Sign in.
Want all the Times? Subscribe.
Advertisement