Oversight Committee Probes Pete Buttigieg on Ohio Train Wreck: ‘You Ignored the Catastrophe’Ashley Oliver 24 Feb 2023 Washington, DC
The House Oversight Committee is launching an investigation into the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) response to a freight train carrying toxic materials that derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, earlier this month.
A majority of the committee’s Republican members, led by chairman Rep. James Comer (R-KY), sent a letter Friday to DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg demanding that his department provide the committee with documents and communications it had related to the cause of the Norfolk Southern train wreck, when Buttigieg learned of it, and any guidance he received on how to respond to it.
The Republicans also accused the department’s leadership of “apathy in the face of” the disastrous derailment, which resulted in a fiery crash of train cars carrying, among their contents, loads of carcinogenic vinyl chloride.
The incident prompted an evacuation of the area, but worries remain high among residents about the possibility of exposure to toxic air or contaminated water, while the state and federal Environmental Protection Agencies continue testing in the region and releasing updates.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources estimated Friday that an affected five-mile waterway had turned up roughly 40,000 dead fish, the majority of which were small minnows, in the immediate aftermath of the wreck.
“This incident is an environmental and public health emergency that now threatens Americans across state lines. Despite the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) responsibility to ensure safe and reliable transport in the United States, you ignored the catastrophe for over a week,” the Republicans wrote.
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https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/02/24/oversight-committee-probes-pete-buttigieg-on-ohio-train-wreck-you-ignored-the-catastrophe/
