By David Shepardson and Brad Brooks
(Reuters) -Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan on Thursday sought to assure residents of East Palestine, Ohio, of the agency’s commitment to air and water testing after a Feb. 3 derailment of a train carrying toxic chemicals caused a fire that sent a cloud of smoke over the town.
The derailment of the Norfolk Southern operated train forced thousands of residents to evacuate while railroad crews drained and burned off chemicals. There were no reported fatalities or injuries.
“This incident has understandably shaken this community to its core,” Regan said at a press conference. “I want this community to know that they don’t have to manage this issue on their own.”
Regan noted state and federal testing inside nearly 500 homes close to the derailment site shows that none of the toxic chemicals that were on the train are present in the air. Also, that testing of municipal water has found no contamination. He did urge residents who use private wells to continue using bottled water and to get their wells tested.
“We are absolutely going to hold Norfolk Southern accountable,” Regan added.
Earlier, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said more needs to be done to address rail safety in the face of hundreds of annual train derailments.
“Rail safety is something that has evolved a lot over the years but there’s clearly more than needs to be done,” Buttigieg told Yahoo Finance. He noted there are roughly 1,000 train derailments annually and said that points to a “need to continue to raise the bar on rail safety.”
Since the accident, residents have complained about headaches and questioned the impacts of pollution, while railroad union officials said they have long warned that such an accident could happen because railroad cost-cutting harmed safety measures.
The Association of American Railroads said the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) should proceed with their investigation into the accident before any changes to safety rules are made. “Immediate pushes for legislative or regulatory action absent of NTSB results and in response to the accident is premature at best – and opportunistic at worst,” the group said.
After railroad crews drained and burned off a toxic chemical from five tanker cars, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on Feb. 8 said that residents could return to their homes.
On Thursday, Republican Senator Marco Rubio urged Biden to demand Buttigieg step down. White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said on Thursday the president had “absolute confidence” in Buttigieg.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Josie Kao)
