Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg traveled to East Palestine, Ohio, Thursday, to look at the wreckage of the Norfolk Southern train that derailed there on Feb. 3, causing a toxic spill and subsequent chemical fire that forced thousands of people to evacuate.
Buttigieg met with cleanup crews and local officials, and, afterward, called for tougher regulations on the rail industry, as well as help from critics of the Biden administration鈥檚 response to the accident, including Congressional Republicans and former President Donald Trump, who visited the town Wednesday.
鈥淭o any national political figure who has decided to get involved in the plight of East Palestine鈥 have a simple message, which is I need your help, because if you鈥檙e serious about this, there is more that we could do to prevent more communities from going through this,鈥� he said.
Buttigieg has been criticized for not coming to the site sooner. He admitted it was a mistake for him to wait 10 days before on the derailment and chemical fire in the town.
鈥淚 felt strongly about this and could have expressed that sooner,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 was taking pains to respect the role that I have [in the response to the derailment]鈥ut that should not have stopped me from weighing in about how I felt about what was happening.鈥�
He praised the local residents and officials he鈥檇 met.
鈥淭he resilience, the resolve and the decency of this community, as they have gone through both this disaster鈥檚 immediate impact and the swirl of national and international and political attention that鈥檚 come their way, their decency and resolve has been inspiring.鈥�
Buttigieg said he鈥檇 be watching the crash investigation for evidence of whether this accident could have been prevented. A preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board found that 鈥渉otbox鈥� detectors along the Norfolk Southern track did not detect problems with an axle bearing on the train in time to prevent the disaster.
鈥淚 think we need to look at鈥id the railroad make the right decisions?鈥� Buttigieg said. 鈥淎nd鈥hould we lay out a little more clearly what those decisions should be so it鈥檚 not up to them. And that鈥檚 the regulatory part.鈥�
Buttigieg has laid out a proposal to improve rail safety, including raising fines for safety infractions, stronger railcar standards, and other requirements, including that all trains have at least two crew members working on them.
He also said his agency will revisit an for modern electronic brakes on high-hazard trains. After by the railroad industry, the Trump administration , but only after Congress weakened it by forcing the rule to pass a cost-benefit analysis.
鈥淚 am asking my staff to conduct a stepped-up analysis on anything we may have missed, any angle that we weren鈥檛 looking at or anything that, for example, in a benefit-cost analysis might actually change, now that we have 鈥ome of the data from this incident.鈥�
He also said the that the train was not considered a 鈥榟igh hazard flammable train鈥� 鈥� a designation that carries stronger railcar and notification requirements 鈥� needs to change.
鈥淎t a common sense level, you ask yourself, there鈥檚 a category called 鈥榟igh-hazard flammable train,鈥� and this train that led to that toxic cloud and that consequence to this community wasn鈥檛 in it. What鈥檚 going on there?鈥� he said.
Buttigieg said requiring more trains to have modern braking systems would be a lot easier to do if Congress passes new legislation. He also called on Norfolk Southern to not only fulfill its obligation to the East Palestine community but to support stronger regulations for rail safety.
鈥淭hey need to go way, way beyond the legal minimum here. And they need to lead the railroad industry shifting its posture to stop fighting us tooth and nail every time we try to use the tools that we have in the administration to make freight rail safe.鈥�
, based in Pittsburgh, covers energy and the environment.