Ohio train derailment: Pete Buttigieg tours East Palestine, takes shot at Trump over lax regulations

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was in East Palestine, Ohio Thursday where he surveyed the damage from a train derailment that released toxic chemicals into the environment. Buttigeig said he saw crews hard at work cleaning up the disaster site.

"They are doing good work. They need to be supported. If at any moment we see any evidence that Norfolk Southern is backsliding on their commitments, or anybody is not doing this by the book and then some, we're going to be there with any authorities we have on the matter and this whole administration because this is too important to let people down," Buttigeig said.

Buttigeig also took a swipe at former president Trump, who was in East Palestine on Wednesday. "If the same people who come here and want to play political games, are the same people who sided with industry, again and again and again, and watered down rail regulations again, and again, and again, I want to see where they've had an actual change of heart or not - and if they had a change of heart I'll take them at their word," Buttigeig said.

Buttigeig also acknowledged a plane crash on Wednesday that claimed the lives of five employees from the Center for Toxicology and Environmental Health that were working at the East Palestine site.

For more info, please go to https://globalnews.ca/news/9502280/ohio-derailment-east-palestine-spill-epa/

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