House GOP Launches Probe Claiming Buttigieg ‘Ignored the Catastrophe’ — Demands All Docs Related to Train Derailment
AP Photo/Matt Freed
House Republicans will investigate the Department of Transportation’s response to the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, alleging Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s slow involvement according to CBS News.
Criticism from Republicans pointed to Buttigieg not visiting East Palestine sooner and taking 10 days to publicly address the disaster.
House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-Ky) and other Republicans are demanding all records involving Buttigieg’s response – from records showing when he found out about the derailment, DOT train maintenance procedures to communications involving the National Transportation Safety Board.
“Despite the U.S. Department of Transportation’s responsibility to ensure safe and reliable transport in the United States, you ignored the catastrophe for over a week,” Republicans wrote to Buttigieg. “The American people deserve answers as to what caused the derailment, and DOT needs to provide an explanation for its leadership’s apathy in the face of this emergency.”
The East Palestine 38-car derailment caused health and safety concerns involving water and air quality.
The initial NTSB investigation found that the alarm detected the hot axle and alerted the train three times.
The report concluded that the crew responded immediately to the alarm – stopping the train, but the wheel bearing broke with increased breaking effort.
Buttigieg met with East Palestine residents and was updated on the NTSB investigation Thursday.
The transportation secretary said that DOT members were on the ground in Ohio a few hours after the derailment. In an interview Friday, President Joe Biden defended his administration’s response and rejected criticism they’ve been slow to act.
Within 2 hours of that derailment, the EPA was in there. Within 2 hours. Every major agency in the United States government that had anything to do with rail and or clean-up was there and is there. In addition to that, I’ve spoken at length to the congresspersons, the governors, the senators from both states of Pennsylvania and in Ohio. And I’ve made it clear to them anything they need is available, or we’ll make it available to them. Whatever happens here, we got to understand is the responsibility of the railroad company who’s made, by the way, tens of billions of dollars in profits, tens of billions of dollars of profits lately.
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