US President Joe Biden discussed by telephone with a number of officials and politicians the situation with a resonant state of emergency in the area of the settlement of East Palestine (Ohio).
This was reported on the page of the head of the White House in Instagram*.
In particular, Biden spoke with Ohio Governor Mike Devine, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chief Michael Regan, Senator Sharon Brown and Republican Bill Johnson.
Details of the conversations are not reported.
At the same time, Biden assured his interlocutors of his readiness to help them with everything they need.
He also said Norfolk Southern would pay for the cost of cleaning up the contaminated area and disposing of the chemicals.
According to him, the Environmental Protection Agency monitors the quality of the atmosphere and water.
It was also examined
more than 500 houses located near the accident site for the presence of harmful substances.
According to Biden's statement, employees of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) were sent to the emergency zone.
Along with this, the US Department of Transportation told carriers about the need to change approaches to ensuring rail safety.
"Spit in our direction"
According to Western journalists, Biden's call to US officials in connection with the emergency in the East Palestine region took place only three weeks after the incident.
Recall that on February 3, about 50 wagons of a train en route from Madison (Illinois) to Conway (Pennsylvania) derailed in Ohio.
Some of the cars were filled with poisonous substances, including vinyl chloride, a chemical widely used in industry.
This substance is flammable, emits carbon monoxide, phosgene and hydrogen chloride, which can accumulate in the folds of the terrain.
Wagons derailed in the East Palestine area
Gettyimages.ru
© US Environmental Protection Agency / Handout/Anadolu Agency
Local authorities declared a state of emergency and evacuated residents of nearby houses.
The accident resulted in a fire and explosion.
At the same time, part of the wagons that were on the ground was not damaged.
However, the temperature in them began to approach a critical point, which could provoke a detonation.
In this regard, the authorities decided on a controlled release of toxic chemicals, which resulted in contamination of the surrounding area.
According to the preliminary version, authored by the National Transportation Safety Board, the accident occurred due to the fact that one of the cars overheated the wheelset, which caused a fire.
The exact causes of the emergency have yet to be clarified by a specially created commission.
As experts interviewed by RT noted, many Americans were outraged by the belated reaction of the White House to the events in Ohio.
It is known that the US federal authorities decided to send a group of doctors and toxicologists to the scene of the incident only on February 17.
This was done in response to a request from the governor of Ohio and a congressional delegation from that state.
On Fox News on Feb. 20, East Palestine Mayor Trent Conway criticized Biden for traveling to Ukraine at a time when many issues regarding the aftermath of the accident have not yet been resolved.
According to him, the head of the White House is ready to provide large-scale financial assistance to Kyiv, but not to local residents.
“Yes, this is just the biggest spit in our direction - it shows that he doesn’t care about us now ... He can send any experts he wants (meaning doctors and toxicologists. - RT ), but this morning from
one
of briefings, I learned that he was in Ukraine, providing millions of dollars to people there, not to us.
I'm outraged," Conway said.
Biden has yet to respond to criticism.
In his opinion, previous administrations, in particular, the administration of Donald Trump, are responsible for the tragedy.
“Congress should join us in implementing rail safety measures.
However, the US Department of Transportation is limited in terms of the railroad security measures it can implement.
Why?
Over the years, elected officials, including the previous administration (White House. -
RT
), have limited our ability to implement and strengthen rail safety measures, ”Biden said in an Instagram post.
US President Joe Biden surrounded by journalists at the White House
AP
© Susan Walsh
The President of the United States stood up not only for the Department of Transportation, but also for the Environmental Protection Agency, noting that this agency "does so that the work on the aftermath (state of emergency in Ohio. - RT ) takes place
.
"
In an RT commentary, Vladimir Vasiliev, chief researcher at the Institute for the US and Canadian Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, suggested that by shifting responsibility to the Trump administration, Biden is trying to protect himself and the reputation of Transportation Minister Pete Buttigieg, who is a representative of the LGBT community (since 2018 has been married to a private school teacher Chasten Glezman -
RT
) and is considered a very popular figure in the camp of the Democratic Party.
“The situation, in particular, is connected with the Minister of Transport Buttigieg, who also received a portion of criticism.
He is considered a rising Democratic political star.
His non-traditional sexual orientation also plays a big role in modern America.
Whatever happens, at least under Biden, this person will be in the untouchable caste, ”says Vasilyev.
By defending Buttigieg, the White House administration puts him above the interests of the railroad workers' union, with which the federal authorities came into conflict last year to support freight carriers, according to the expert.
For example, on December 1, the House of Representatives of the US Congress, in order to prevent a nationwide strike scheduled for the end of the year, adopted a resolution aimed at forcibly preventing it.
“The Biden administration has made a choice in favor of employers, in favor of their desire to maximize profits.
However, in my opinion, it is obvious that ignoring the interests of the workers, who were forbidden to strike, led to a decrease in technological discipline, which could just provoke accidents on the railways, ”Vasilyev emphasized.
It is known that after the tragedy in Ohio, incidents on US railroads occurred in the suburbs of Detroit (Michigan) with at least six wagons and in Nebraska, where 31 wagons of coal derailed.
According to Buttigieg's confession, which he made in mid-February on the air of the Yahoo!
Finance, about 1,000 trains derail in the US every year.
True, the Minister of Transport did not go into the reasons for such sad statistics, limiting himself to a call to raise safety standards, especially when transporting hazardous substances.
Diligent silence
According to Vladimir Vasilyev, the Biden administration is not going to take any radical measures and expects that the situation with trade unions and accidents on the railways will gradually leave the agenda.
It is for this reason that the liberal press, controlled by the Democratic Party, hushed up information about the state of emergency in East Palestine, the expert says.
“The reality is that the US rail network needs modernization, a civilized solution to problems with workers.
However, the Biden administration is clearly trying to save money, which the Americans rightly suspect goes to support Ukraine.
Naturally, the US liberal media do not talk about this,” Vasiliev said.
US President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
Gettyimages.ru
© Ukrainian Presidential Press Office
On February 17, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, drew attention to this situation.
Speaking at a press briefing, she said that the Biden administration "is diligently glossing over the American failures caused by the failures of local regulators related to the transport of goods dangerous to human health."
In a RT commentary, Vladimir Bruter, an expert at the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Studies, explained the silence of the US liberal media by the desire of the White House administration to eliminate itself from problems with railways and man-made disasters in the country.
“In February, it was important for the Biden administration to create a beautiful picture of how the American president is addressing key geopolitical issues.
His visit to Kyiv and Warsaw was aimed at this.
Against this background, internal discussions were not needed.
Biden and the liberal press kept quiet as best they could.
But now the White House, apparently, will have to explain itself for the security situation on the railroads, ”summed up Bruter.
* Meta product, activity recognized as extremist, prohibited on the territory of Russia by decision of the Tverskoy Court of Moscow dated 03/21/2022.