Advertisement
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. Green
Reporting 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 steady flow of resources to eastern Palestine and is overseeing cleanup efforts at Norfolk Southern, the railroad company responsible for the derailment. Management argued that the company should 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. “
Mr. Biden will meet residents affected by the derailment during his visit next month, an administration official said in the announcement.
The train was carrying more than 700,000 pounds of vinyl chloride, a carcinogen used to produce pipes, furniture and packaging, when it skipped the tracks. The derailment saturated the town’s soil, air and waterways with toxins, and fires created huge, toxic smoke plumes over the village, 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 a subscriber? Sign in.
Want all the Times? Subscribe.
Advertisement