Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told reporters on Monday that he plans to visit East Palestine, Ohio, “when the time is right” and announced new efforts by his agency to improve rail safety in the wake of a train derailment that has left local residents questioning the safety of their soil, air and water.
“I am very interested in getting to know the residents of East Palestine, hearing from them about how they’ve been impacted and communicating with them about the steps that we’re taking,” Buttigieg said on a Monday call, adding that he had referred to past common practices of transportation secretaries by deferring first to the National Safety Transportation Board after a major disaster like the derailment. “But yes, when the time is right, I do plan to visit East Palestine. I don’t have a date for you right now.”
Residents of the small community have criticized the response to the February 3 derailment of a Norfolk Southern train that released toxic chemicals. US Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan is set to return to East Palestine to meet with residents and local and state officials on Tuesday.
Buttigieg previewed the new rail safety efforts in a recent letter to Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw, demanding accountability and calling for greater safety regulations. And while much of the Department of Transportation’s newly announced efforts focus on calls to Congress and the private sector to work to bolster rail safety, he said his agency will enhance its work as well.
“We are accelerating and augmenting our ongoing lines of effort on rail regulation and inspection here at the US DOT, including further regulation on high hazard flammable trains and electronically controlled pneumatic brakes – rules that were clawed back under the previous administration – to the full extent of that we are allowed to under…
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