House Republicans Ramp Up Inquiries Into Federal Response to Ohio Derailment

A pedestrian walks down the street in East Palestine, Ohio, as cleanup from the Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern train derailment continues, on Feb. 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)

House Republicans are pushing forward with several inquiries into the Biden administration’s response to the Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern train derailment and subsequent chemical spill in East Palestine, Ohio.

Reps. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) and Troy Nehls (R-Texas) sent a letter (pdf) to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan on Feb. 27 to request information on the agency’s decision-making and actions since the crash, which leaked hazardous chemicals into the ground, air, and water in East Palestine.

Graves is chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, while Nehls chairs that panel’s Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials.

While the EPA has since deemed the air and water to be safe, the lawmakers noted that residents in the affected area “continue to report noxious odors, pollutants in the water and soil” and are still concerned about the long-term effects of the leaked chemicals.

Regan, who made his second visit to East Palestine on Feb. 21, has encouraged residents to trust the results of air and water testing that federal and state authorities claim haven’t yielded any cause for alarm. However, researchers at Texas A&M University and Carnegie Mellon University said on Feb. 24 that concentrations for nine of the roughly 50 chemicals that the EPA has been testing the air for are above normal in East Palestine and may pose a health risk if those levels continue.

“Further, questions have arisen regarding the decision to conduct the controlled burn of hazardous chemicals versus employing other, potentially safer alternatives,” the congressmen wrote.

Regan will have until March 13 to respond to their requests.

Questions on Capitol Hill

The inquiry is the latest in a spree of oversight activity by Republicans in the House and Senate.

House Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio), who represents the district that includes East Palestine, also wrote to the EPA chief, seeking answers about the agency’s response to the toxic derailment.

“Helping the people who live and work in East Palestine and the surrounding region is our top priority,” the representatives noted in a Feb. 17 statement. “The community must be able to trust their air, water, and soil is not a threat to their health following this train derailment.”

The same day, Sen. Maria Cantwell (R-Wash.), chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, sent letters (pdf) to seven of the largest railroad companies’ CEOs—including Norfolk Southern President and CEO Alan Shaw—requesting information about their protocols and standards for handling hazardous materials.

Since then, Republicans on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, led by Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.), announced that they’ve opened an investigation into the “slow pace” of the response of Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

“Despite the U.S. Department of Transportation’s responsibility to ensure safe and reliable transport in the United States, you ignored the catastrophe for over a week,” the lawmakers wrote in a Feb. 24 letter (pdf) to Buttigieg. “The American people deserve answers as to what caused the derailment, and DOT needs to provide an explanation for its leadership’s apathy in the face of this emergency.”

Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg (C) visits with DOT investigators at the site of the derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 23, 2023. (Brooke LaValley-Pool/Getty Images)

Buttigieg, who visited the derailment site for the first time on Feb. 23, has faced criticism for his sluggish response to the crash and subsequent chemical spill, which has disrupted the lives of East Palestine residents with evacuations, adverse health reactions, and lingering questions about the safety of the air and drinking water in the area.

The Oversight Committee also criticized Buttigieg’s repeated assertion that the Trump administration is responsible for the accident because of its 2018 withdrawal of a regulation that required the use of electronically controlled pneumatic brakes on certain trains carrying flammable liquids.

According to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the cause of the crash wasn’t a braking issue but an overheated wheel bearing.

While DOT declined to comment on the investigation, it pointed to the secretary’s “alarm” that the committee had referred to the NTSB as being part of the department in its letter.

“NTSB is independent (and with good reason),” Buttigieg noted in a tweet. “Still, of course, we will fully review this and respond appropriately.”

White House Responds

President Joe Biden has also faced criticism over his response to the crisis, including over the timing of his trip last week to Ukraine and subsequent confirmation on Feb. 24 that he has no plans to visit East Palestine.

“That was the biggest slap in the face,” East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway told Fox News on Feb. 20. “That tells you right now he doesn’t care about us. He can send every agency he wants to, but I found that out this morning in one of the briefings that he was in Ukraine giving millions of dollars away to people over there and not to us, and I’m furious.”

After a Feb. 22 visit to the village by former President Donald Trump added political fuel to the fire, the White House released an update on the administration’s response efforts, noting that federal officials had spent the weekend checking on East Palestine residents at their homes.

“At the president’s direction, the Environmental Protection Agency, FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency], and CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] went door-to-door this weekend to personally check in on each family in East Palestine, provide flyers with additional resources, and conduct health surveys,” a White House official told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement.

Noting that the agencies had been on track to reach more than 400 families by the end of the weekend, the official also stressed that the EPA and Transportation Department had arrived on the scene of the derailment within two hours of their receiving notification of the incident and “quickly got to work holding the rail company accountable, containing the damage, and monitoring for environmental impacts.”

The White House also credited the president for reaching out to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro after the crash to offer federal assistance and keeping elected officials updated on response efforts.

“At Governor DeWine’s request and President Biden’s direction, federal teams have continued to arrive in East Palestine—investigating the cause of the derailment, making Norfolk Southern clean up its mess and reimburse families, conducting public health screenings, monitoring the air and water, and screening over 550 homes,” the official said. “The administration also continues to call on Congress to pass commonsense rail safety measures, like increasing maximum fines for safety violations and strengthening rules governing high-hazardous shipments.”