Buttigieg to visit East Palestine following train derailment and toxic spill

WASHINGTON — Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg volition sojourn East Palestine, Ohio, connected Thursday to presumption the tract of the caller bid derailment that led to a spill of toxic chemicals into the community.

Buttigieg plans to conscionable with assemblage members, person an update from the National Transportation Safety Board's probe and perceive from Transportation Department investigators who were connected the crushed successful the hours aft the Feb. 3 derailment, the section said.

A spokesperson for Buttigieg said a connection Wednesday that the caput had said helium would sojourn the country erstwhile it was due to bash truthful and erstwhile it would not detract from exigency effect efforts.

The sojourn volition coincide with the NTSB's merchandise of a preliminary study Thursday astir its probe into the derailment.

"The caput is going present that the EPA has said it is moving retired of the exigency effect signifier and transitioning to the semipermanent remediation phase," the spokesperson said. "His sojourn besides coincides with the NTSB issuing its factual findings of the probe into the origin of the derailment and volition let the caput to perceive from USDOT investigators who were connected the crushed wrong hours of the derailment to enactment the NTSB's investigation."

The Department of Transportation "will proceed to bash its portion by helping get to the bottommost of what caused the derailment and implementing obstruction information measures, and we anticipation this abrupt bipartisan enactment for obstruction information volition effect successful meaningful changes successful Congress," the connection added.

Buttigieg's travel volition travel a time aft erstwhile President Donald Trump's planned sojourn to the area.

Republicans person called connected Buttigieg to resign aft the bid derailment, claiming helium has been dilatory to respond to the disaster. Buttigieg, however, tweeted last week that his department's quality to modulate the obstruction strategy is "constrained by law" due to the fact that of a braking regularisation withdrawn by the Trump administration.

White House property caput Karine Jean-Pierre defended Buttigieg erstwhile she was asked astir the criticisms from Republicans arsenic good arsenic Democrats.

"We bash person implicit confidence" successful Buttigieg, Jean-Pierre said astatine a quality briefing.

On Tuesday, EPA Administrator Michael Regan announced a sweeping enforcement action to compel Norfolk Southern, the obstruction institution progressive successful the accident, to behaviour and wage for cleanup actions associated with the derailment of the 150-car train, which carried toxic chemicals.

The order requires the institution to identify and cleanable up contaminated ungraded and water; wage immoderate EPA costs, including reimbursing the bureau for cleaning services that it volition connection to residents and businesses; and enactment successful nationalist meetings astatine the EPA's petition and station accusation online.

In a statement, Norfolk Southern said, "We admit that we person a responsibility, and we person committed to doing what's close for the residents of East Palestine. We person been paying for the cleanup activities to day and volition proceed to bash so."

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro besides said Tuesday that his bureau had made a transgression referral successful effect to the train derailment, and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signaled his authorities lawyer wide is besides preparing to instrumentality ineligible action.