Biden to make first visit to East Palestine, Ohio, a year after toxic train derailment

WASHINGTON ― President Joe Biden is planning his first visit to East Palestine, Ohio, next month to mark the one-year anniversary of a toxic train derailment that raised fears among residents about a health and environmental crisis.

Biden will meet with East Palestine residents affected by the Norfolk Southern train derailment and assess the ongoing response, according to a White House official who confirmed the visit on the condition of anonymity. The date of Biden's visit has not been announced.

A train that included five cars carrying vinyl chloride derailed on Feb. 3, 2023, later igniting large flames and plumes of smoke into the air when the railroad vented and burned the chloride to prevent a larger explosion. The wreck forced people out of their homes, and residents continue to worry about the long-term health and economic effects of the derailment.

Biden has faced relentless criticism from Republicans for not visiting East Palestine for the past year. They've accused him of ignoring a blue-collar town that former President Donald Trump carried by 40 percentage points in the 2020 election.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden’s visit follows a recent invitation from East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway and other community leaders.

“The president had always said he would go when it is most helpful to the community,” she said. “And with this invitation very recent and the current status of the recovery, we felt that the time was right.”

Trump, the frontrunner to secure the 2024 presidential nomination, visited East Palestine weeks after the wreck. One day later, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg traveled to East Palestine.

The White House has defended the administration's response to the derailment, saying the Environmental Protection Agency deployed a team within hours to assist in the environmental response. The Biden administration has also vowed to hold Norfolk Southern accountable.

The EPA ordered Norfolk Southern to clean up all environmental damage caused by the wreck − including cleaning or disposing contaminated soil and water − and to reimburse the federal government's response costs.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan said the agency has "confidence in the safety of the air, water and soil" in the East Palestine community.

EPA cleanup efforts have included the excavation of more than 176,000 tons of soil and shipments of more than 43 million gallons of wastewater off site. Regan said the EPA collected more than 115 million data points to assess air quality. The EPA has also cleaned 83 homes and structures near the derailment site to address potential dust emissions.

Regan said the EPA will "continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with the East Palestine community until we are certain that every bit of hazardous contamination has gone. We will not leave until this community is restored and made whole again."

Trump mocked Biden's upcoming visit on his social media network Truth Social, writing Biden has "finally decided" to go to East Palestine. "I was there when it counted, and his reception won’t be a warm one," Trump said.

Jean-Pierre downplayed past criticism from Conaway, who last year called it a “slap in the face” when Biden traveled to Ukraine and not East Palestine, Ohio, in the aftermath of the derailment. Conaway endorsed Trump in the 2024 election last April.

“The president has always said he is a president for folks who live in red states, folks who live in blue states. It doesn't matter if you're in rural America, urban, suburban − he is a president for all,” Jean-Pierre said.

“The mayor is allowed to say whatever he wants to say but he also invited the president – this current president – to come."

Biden has called on Congress to pass the Bipartisan Railway Safety Act, which would require detectors for rail carriers containing hazardous waste, toughen penalties for rail companies violating safety rules and phase in safer tank cars.

"It should not be the case that one year after that derailment, we are still waiting for Congress to act," Buttigieg said. "And yet we have seen many who had a lot to say about this in Congress a year ago still not make clear on the record whether they are for or against this bill."

The National Transportation Safety Board determined the derailment occurred after crew members became aware of an overheated wheel bearing and tried to stop the train. Norfolk Southern has estimated cleanup and recovery costs near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border will top $1.1 billion.

Contributing: The Canton Repository

Reach Joey Garrison on X, formerly known as Twitter, @joeygarrison.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden to visit East Palestine, Ohio, year after train derailment