WASHINGTON — The White House is firing back at Republicans following the toxic East Palestine, Ohio train derailment, blaming the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress for undoing Obama-era rail safety measures designed to avert such disasters.
The aggressive rebuttal comes as former President Donald Trump is set to visit East Palestine on Wednesday after Republicans have increasingly attacked the Biden administration, especially Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, for its response to the Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern freight train derailment that unleashed toxic chemicals.
“Congressional Republicans and former Trump Administration officials owe East Palestine an apology for selling them out to rail industry lobbyists when they dismantled Obama-Biden rail safety protections as well as EPA powers to rapidly contain spills,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement. to USA TODAY.
More:Just how dangerous is the Ohio derailment disaster? Why it’s confusing.
Among safety rollbacks cited by the White House, the Trump administration withdrew a 2015 proposal to require advanced braking systems on trains carrying highly flammable materials, ended regular safety audits of railroads and withdrew a proposal to require at least two crew members on freight trains.
The White House also resurfaced a 2021 letter to the Federal Railroad Administration signed by 20 Republican senators in support of waivers backed by the rail lobby to allow automated inspections of track safety instead of human inspections.
More:A look at some of the transportation safety rules sidelined under President Trump
On the environmental front, House Republicans last year proposed substantial cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency, including the elimination of its Surface Water Protection Program.
Republicans have accused Biden of ignoring East Palestine, which Trump carried by 40 percentage points in the 2020 election, decrying how the president visited Ukraine and Poland this week instead of Ohio. Their attacks come as Democratic support among working-class voters in Rust Belt states like Ohio has been on the decline for over a decade.
Trains are becoming less safe:Why the Ohio derailment disaster could happen more often
Bates said congressional Republicans “laid the groundwork” for the Trump administration to tear up requirements for more effective train breaks and accused House Republicans of wanting to “defund our ability to protect drinking water.”
“There is only one way they can prove that they are finally disowning their long history of giveaways to rail industry management at the expense of communities like East Palestine: work across the aisle with us to put Obama-Biden protections back in place and go further , including with higher fines for rail pollution and properly equipping the EPA.”
More:Trains are becoming less safe. Why the Ohio derailment disaster could happen more often
Buttigieg plans to visit East Palestine on Thursday
Nearly three weeks since the incident, residents are still reeling with uncertainty as officials are pledging to address growing health concerns and federal agencies are expected to announce additional assistance.
While the US Environmental Protection Agency and the National Transportation Safety Board continue to investigate the incident, residents of East Palestine have complained about headaches and skin rashes in addition to environmental fears.
The federal agencies maintain that the air and water are safe after officials prompted a controlled release of vinyl chloride to prevent an explosion following the derailment. But the potential and unknown long-term effects from the toxic chemicals remain a growing fear among East Palestine residents.
Buttigieg plans to visit East Palestine on Thursday, making his first trip there since the derailment, to meet with community members and receive an update on the ongoing investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board. The board’s initial findings are expected on Thursday.
The visit coincides with the EPA moving out of the “emergency response phase” and transitioning to the long-term remediation phase.
Biden, while visiting Poland, said Wednesday he called federal and state officials, including Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, about ongoing response efforts in East Palestine. “I reaffirm my commitment to making sure they have everything they need,” Biden said in a tweet.
Reach Joey Garrison on Twitter @Joeygarrison.