EPA Administrator Michael Regan sought Thursday to quell mounting frustration with the Biden administration’s response to a freight train derailment that unleashed toxic chemicals in eastern Ohio earlier this month, vowing in a visit to the site to “be here as long as it takes to ensure the health and safety of this community.”
(Bloomberg) — EPA Administrator Michael Regan sought Thursday to quell mounting frustration with the Biden administration’s response to a freight train derailment that unleashed toxic chemicals in eastern Ohio earlier this month, vowing in a visit to the site to “be here as long as it takes to ensure the health and safety of this community.”
“EPA will exercise our oversight and our enforcement authority under the law to be sure we’re getting the result that the community deserves,” Regan said in a news conference in East Palestine, Ohio, following meetings with local officials and residents. “We are absolutely going to hold Norfolk Southern Corp. accountable — and I can promise you that.”
- Read More: Norfolk Southern CEO Seeks to Calm Fury After Derailment
The Environmental Protection Agency already notified Norfolk Southern of its “potential liability” to pay for cleanup and the agency’s response costs under federal law. Monitoring so far shows the air does not contain hazardous levels of chemicals, Regan said, including vinyl chloride that was vented from one rail car in a controlled release Feb. 5. Indoor air screenings are available to local residents, and around-the-clock monitoring of the air and water also will continue.
The Biden administration and state officials have come under scrutiny amid lingering odors, reports of animal deaths and continued complaints of headaches and other ailments potentially tied to the hazardous chemical release in the community near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border.
Senator Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, lashed out Thursday, calling Regan’s visit overdue. “While I am glad EPA Administrator Regan will visit the site today, it is unacceptable that it took nearly two weeks for a senior administration official to show up,” Manchin said in a news release.
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