Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio traveled to East Palestine on Thursday to see first-hand conditions in the area where controlled burning of hazardous chemicals took place after a train derailment earlier this month.
“There are dead worms and dead fish all over the water,” Vance said in the video at Leslie Run Creek.
Vance was scraping the bottom of the creek with a stick and found that he could see “chemicals coming out of the ground.”
“It’s disgusting,” he commented. “And the fact that we haven’t cleaned up the train crash, that these chemicals are still leaking into the ground, is an insult to the people living in East Palestine. Don’t forget about these people. We have to keep the pressure on. This is how we solve this problem.”
Today I visited a local stream in East Palestine. These waterways are still very polluted. It’s time for Norfolk Southern to finish the cleanup. Check out this video: pic.twitter.com/4lsHBmrMJj
— JD Vance (@JDVance1) February 16, 2023
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources estimated that 7.5 miles of streams were affected, resulting in the loss of 3,500 fish.
In addition to the dead fish, one woman living 16 miles from East Palestine reported that all her chickens died as a result of burns, and a fox breeder claims that one of his animals died and the rest became ill due to “smoke and chemicals from the train”.
“After today’s visit, I’m reminded that the residents are obviously very, very scared,” Vance told Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, “but they’re also not getting answers from the authorities about what exactly is going on and what’s going on. do to clean up the disaster.”
“The railroad has completely failed to clean up the toxic soil that is leaking into the rivers… The question I have is why haven’t they cleaned up the contaminated soil that will ultimately contaminate the groundwater anyway?” – Senator @JDVance1 pic.twitter.com/HDESu9PH6P
— Senator Vance Press Office (@SenVancePress) February 17, 2023
Today I spoke with East Palestinian residents and met with local elected officials. I heard many recent questions and came away with all sorts of concerns that needed to be addressed.
I won’t stop working on this until people get the answers they deserve. pic.twitter.com/mWwT4dydB7
— JD Vance (@JDVance1) February 16, 2023
During a news conference, EPA Administrator Michael Regan assured East Palestinian residents that the agency is “testing everything,” promising the community that the federal agency will be present “for as long as necessary to ensure the health and safety of this community.”
He also said the EPA would hold the Norfolk Southern railroad company accountable.
“We issued a notice of liability to the company and they signed it indicating that they would be responsible for the cleanup,” Regan told CNN. “But as this investigation continues and new facts emerge, I just want to say and make it very clear that I will use the full authority of this agency, as well as the federal government, to make sure this company is held accountable.”
