Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will visit East Palestine, Ohio, on Thursday, 20 days after a disastrous train derailment led to fears of spreading toxins.
Buttigieg said earlier this week that he planned to visit Ohio "when it is appropriate." Buttigieg and President Biden's administration have faced heavy criticism for their response to both the Ohio derailment and others in Michigan and Nebraska.
Buttigieg is expected to meet with community members affected by the derailment and receive an update on the ongoing investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board, which is expected to issue its initial findings on Thursday.
"As the Secretary said, he would go when it is appropriate and wouldn’t detract from the emergency response efforts. The Secretary is going now that the EPA has said it is moving out of the emergency response phase and transitioning to the long-term remediation phase," an administration official told Fox News digital.
"The Environmental Protection Agency is leading the Federal response to hold Norfolk Southern accountable and make the company clean up its mess. That is how it works in response to a chemical spill. The Department of Transportation will continue to do its part by helping get to the bottom of what caused the derailment and implementing rail safety measures, and we hope this sudden bipartisan support for rail safety will result in meaningful changes in Congress," the official added.
PETE BUTTIGIEG RIPPED FOR BEING ‘NO SHOW’ IN TOXIC OHIO TRAIN DERAILMENT: ‘COMPLETE DISCONNECT’
The East Palestine crash was the first of three major derailments in recent weeks, with subsequent incidents occurring in Michigan and Nebraska.
Buttigieg attempted to shift blame for the disasters onto former President Trump's administration last week. He claimed he had been "constrained" by the Trump administration, stating that the Department of Transportation in 2018 withdrew a proposed rule that would require trains carrying some dangerous chemicals to use electronically controlled pneumatic (ECP) brakes.
At the time, the Department of Transportation said that the technology's benefits weren't conclusive.
"We’re constrained by law on some areas of rail regulation (like the braking rule withdrawn by the Trump administration in 2018 because of a law passed by Congress in 2015), but we are using the powers we do have to keep people safe," Buttigieg wrote at the time.
