The Biden administration warned it would charge nscorp triple the cleanup cost of its derailed train in Ohio if the administration is forced to clean up the mess. The threat came as Biden officials highlighted work USDOT, EPA & FEMA are doing onsite.
The threat came during a call on Friday in which Biden administration officials highlighted the work that several agencies, including the Department of Transportation, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, among others, are doing in East Palestine.
Officials on the call also defended the administration's response to the train derailment, including the response by Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who has been greatly criticized for his handling of the disaster. Officials said that an evacuation order had been put in place early on and added that visits by high-ranking officials, such as politicians, can distract crews who are cleaning up the toxic mess.
Many Republicans, including Sen. Marco Rubio and former Vice President Mike Pence , have criticized Buttigieg's response to the Ohio train derailment, with the former demanding President Joe Biden to ask for Buttigieg's resignation. A letter addressed to the president described the derailment as the latest example of Buttigieg's"gross level of incompetence and apathy" over the last two years.
"It is painfully clear to the American people that Secretary Buttigieg has little regard for the duties of the Secretary of Transportation," Rubio wrote in his letter.The White House currently does not have any plans for Biden to visit East Palestine in response to the train derailment. On Friday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre noted that Biden's immediate schedule is currently packed with a trip to Poland to mark the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Former President Donald Trump plans to visit with members of the East Palestine community, a source close to the former president told Fox News Digital.
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