EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — Nearly three weeks after the Ohio train derailment occurred, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg visited East Palestine on Thursday where he toured the site and spoke with members of the community.
During a late-morning press conference, Buttigieg said the resiliency and decency of the East Palestine community has "has been inspiring."
"The really striking thing to me is how they’re here for each other," Buttigieg said. "This is not a community with infinite resources. Speaking with the mayor, hearing about what he has been through and remembering the experience of being a mayor, I am really impressed with how they’ve been able to support one another. They’re not here for the politics. They’re here to make sure this community can move forward.”
He said he wants the community to know they are not alone.
“Before, during and after the national attention, they’re going to have support. They’re going to have support from us when it comes to holding Norfolk Southern accountable. They’re going to have support from the EPA when it comes to making sure they get accurate information about the safety of their air, water and soil. I think they ought to have support from the whole country that has seen what they’ve been through. … The point is to make sure they’re taken care of for the long run.”
You can watch Buttigieg's full press conference in the video below:
He also addressed the recent visit from former President Donald Trump, which came one day earlier.
“One thing he could do is express support for reversing the deregulation that happened on his watch," Buttigieg said. "I heard him say he had nothing to do with it even though it was in his administration. So if he had nothing to do with it, and they did it in his administration against his will, maybe he could come out and say that he supports us moving in a different direction. We’re not afraid to own our policies when it comes to raising the bar on regulation. I’ve got to think that him indicating that this is something that everybody, nobody how much you disagree on politics and presidential campaigns can get behind, higher fines, tougher regulations on safety, Congress untying our hands on braking rules, all the other things that go with that, that would be a nice thing for him to do.”
When asked if he took too long to visit himself, Buttigieg offered this response:
“What I tried to do is balance two things: My desire to be involved and engaged and on the ground, which is how I’m generally wired to act. And my desire to follow the norm of transportation secretaries, allowing NTSB to really lead the initial stages of the public-facing work. I’ll do some thinking about whether I got that balance right, but I think the most important thing is first of all making sure the residents here have what they need."
Earlier Thursday, Buttigieg toured the site of the train derailment, which can be watched in the video below:
Buttigieg tweeted about his visit as well:
Just days ago, Buttigieg sent a letter to the CEO of Norfolk Southern reminding them to "demonstrate unequivocal support for the people” of East Palestine, Ohio, and surrounding areas after a fiery train derailment led to the controlled release of vinyl chloride.
Earlier this week, Buttigieg also spoke one-on-one with 3News' Dave Chudowsky in an extensive 12-minute interview about the situation in East Palestine. You can watch that full interview in the player below: