A year after fiery train derailment, Biden to visit East Palestine
Newsy
The president will make his first visit to the Ohio city as long-term environmental concerns linger from last year's derailment.
As the one-year anniversary of the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, approaches, a White House official told Scripps News that President Biden plans to visit the town in February.
The White House did not say when exactly the president would visit East Palestine. The administration said he will meet with residents impacted by the Feb. 3, 2023, derailment that forced most residents to evacuate for several days.
The subject of a presidential visit to East Palestine came with a lot of political fodder. Many Republicans and some Democrats criticized President Biden for not visiting the town in the immediate aftermath of the derailment. Among them was former President Donald Trump, who is the Republican front-runner in this year's presidential election. Trump visited the town of about 5,000 residents last year.
The administration defended its stance, saying it was providing East Palestine with all of the resources it needed to clean up from the derailment. The White House also dispatched numerous deputies, including Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Environmental Protection Agency head Michael S. Regan.
"We are committed to supporting the people of East Palestine every step of the way, and we are going to be on the ground helping them as long as it's needed," Karine Jean-Pierre, White House press secretary, said last year when asked about a presidential visit.
