• In February 2023, the Norfolk Southern Railroad derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, releasing a large amount of toxic chemicals that required a major cleanup.
• Local residents have mixed feelings about what that means for the people of East Palestine, as President Joe Biden has promised to return to the area after failing to visit last year.
• “He had another year left,” East Palestine resident Chris Sigler told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “He hasn't come yet. He has been to Ukraine and Israel, but was unable to come here last year during his presidency and in response to perhaps the worst environmental disaster in about 20 years. I haven't. That's the disappointing part of this work.”

Residents of East Palestine, Ohio, have mixed feelings about President Joe Biden's renewed promise to visit the area hit by a toxic train derailment nearly a year ago, Daily Caller News reports. This was discovered through a foundation investigation.

White House announced On Wednesday, Biden announced he would visit East Palestine for the first time in February, despite an earlier promise to visit the site where a Norfolk Southern train derailed and spilled dangerous chemicals into a small community. Some residents told DCNF it was good news that the president was finally coming, while others didn't care or were mostly skeptical because of the president's past promises. (Related article: 'It's no big deal': Ordinary autoworkers push back against UAW's support for Biden, insisting they can 'think' for themselves)

Tammy and Dr. Rick Tsai are residents of East Palestine and were preparing to retire when disaster struck nearly a year ago. After responding to the disaster, Rick decided to run for Ohio's 6th Congressional District to help alleviate the problems plaguing his community.

Tammy Tsai told DCNF that she is “not concerned at this point” about Biden's plan. “I mean, he couldn't even pronounce the name of our town. It might not be a big deal, but maybe someone should have told him that sooner. Maybe he can't pronounce it by now. would have fixed it. But it shows how little he knew what was going on.”

“People are still getting sick,” Tammy continued. “When it rains, people get nosebleeds. Some people still get skin rashes and headaches, but others are unaffected. But some people do. It depends on how your body is doing. ”

The Norfolk Southern Railroad derailment involved 49 railcars, including 11 railcars loaded with hazardous chemicals. Toxic chemicals, including vinyl chloride, caused symptoms that investigators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say include sore throats, headaches, coughs and nausea.

“I think a large portion of the community is disgusted,” Rick Tsai told DCNF. “I think he came here to save face. I described him as a blister. He comes after the fact. Maybe he came because he was forced to do it by public opinion. think.”

The Biden administration has repeatedly promised to visit the site since the incident, and only confirmed it was available on March 2 in a statement, days after telling reporters it had no plans to visit. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg also visited East Palestine on February 23, 2023, but he was also criticized for not visiting.

“Even though he's our president, he's not going to get a warm welcome,” Rick continued. “I can't speak for all the townspeople, but most of them are very dissatisfied with him. He has almost been abandoned and forgotten about us. He doesn't forget. He doesn't care. In fact, he knows we're here.”

Former President Donald Trump visited the site just weeks after the disaster and was greeted by a line of residents outside. President Trump donated pallets of water and cleaning supplies to affected residents.

Rick also said he was concerned that there was still contamination in the ground from the crash, saying the disaster had been “handled badly” and that chemicals were still coming out of the stream water. He said that it can be confirmed. He criticized the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for directing Norfolk Southern to clean up everything related to the derailment, saying the government should have taken a more active role.

Joe Biden is going to East Palestine because this is an election year.

President Trump headed to East Palestine at a time when no one else was willing to take the risk. pic.twitter.com/6ucvHrAppj

— Brigitte Gabriel (@ACTBrigitte) January 31, 2024

Some residents, including East Palestine business owner Don Elzer, are more optimistic about the president's planned visit, saying it could bring more attention to the region and perhaps more resources. I think there is.

“I think that's great,” Elser told DCNF. “When you have someone of his stature coming to town, we're always on the news and paying attention to what's going on here. I think that's a very good thing. Maybe he's… , they have access to resources that we don't have here, so if they could bring something like that, it would be really good for the economy and our business district.”

Elser said his business's revenue has fallen by about 20% since the accident, but he doesn't know whether to blame it on the disaster or the broader economic slowdown.

“From my standpoint, it didn't matter,” Elser told DCNF about Biden's lack of site visits over the past year. “EPA was here. Federal and state were here. A lot of agencies were doing different things for us here. So for him to come in, I'm sure it meant something psychologically to us. But in reality, it didn't matter. I much prefer hearing from EPA people what's going on from politicians. is.”

The Biden administration continues to insist the president will visit the site, but some residents are skeptical that will happen.

“I'll believe it when I see it,” East Palestine resident Chris Sigler told DCNF of Biden's plan. “He actually said last year that he was going to visit here sometime this year. He couldn't narrow down when it would be. Well, here we are again. He said he was going to visit next month. So when I saw that, it was the first time I felt like I could believe it.”

“And it seems like now it's really political as to why he's coming,” Sigler told DCNF. “He's got a whole year ahead of him. He hasn't even come. He's been to Ukraine and Israel, but during his time in office, he's probably the worst environmental disaster in the last 20 years or so. Because of that, I wasn't able to come here last year. That's the disappointing part of this work.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from DCNF.

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