A toxic cup of Joe? Biden drinks coffee made with the tap water from East Palestine a year after the chemical spill as resident tells Daily Mail why she was HAPPY to see the Democrat visit
President Joe Biden expressed full support for cleanup efforts in Ohio on Friday, a year after a devastating toxic spill: He drank tap water and coffee during his visit to East Palestine.
After praising what he said were “Herculean efforts” by federal, state and local authorities to restore the environment after a train derailment and fire, he stopped at a candle shop in the village center.
And if there was any doubt about whether he believed the water was safe, he took a sip of coffee and a drink of water in full view of the cameras.
The White House later said both contained local tap water.
It marked the end of the will-he-won’t-he speculation in the press.
President Joe Biden drank coffee made from tap water during his visit to East Palestine. The Environmental Protection Agency has assured residents that local water is safe
Biden chatted with locals during his stop at the 1820 Candle Co in the center of town
A day earlier, his press secretary had been asked if he wanted to drink the water during his long-awaited visit.
“I can say this: that the president is not concerned about drinking – drinking the water in East Palestine,” Karine Jean-Pierre said. ‘The Environment Protection Agency is confident the drinking water is safe.’
Life in eastern Palestine was turned upside down last February when a 150-car freight train operated by Norfolk Southern and carrying toxic chemicals derailed.
The cargo included 700,000 pounds of vinyl chloride, a carcinogen used in the production of pipes, furniture and other plastic goods.
Emergency workers have decided to use a ‘controlled burn’ to avert the danger of a huge explosion. Instead, it produced a plume of thick, black smoke.
The EPA has been saying so ever since more than 176,000 tons of hazardous waste removed. More than 100 million gallons of water, rainfall and snowmelt were removed or treated.
But it has left behind lingering health problems.
And residents were eager for Biden to visit and reassure them that they would not be forgotten.
On Friday, four residents were chosen to meet with the president and express their concerns.
Still, the Protection Agency has posted signs around creeks and water sources warning people to stay away since the train derailed last year.
Their lives changed on February 3, 2023. A photo taken by a drone shows parts of a Norfolk and Southern freight train that derailed outside the East Palestine village last year
“Eastern Palestine has been neglected and that was a trademark of his administration,” said Chris Solis, who was on Main Street as part of the protest against Biden’s visit
Mother-of-three Jess Conard, who has become an avid campaigner in the past, said she was encouraged by what she heard.
“He was confident that the federal government would fill the gaps where Norfolk Southern is falling short in its response,” she said. “Eastern Palestine will not be abandoned and he recognizes that there are unmet needs.”
She was one of the signatories of a letter sent to the president on Thursday asking him to make a major disaster declaration, provide long-term health monitoring and care, and offer rehousing financing to people like Ferguson who want to leave.
A day later, Biden announced new research grants to study the spill’s ongoing health effects.
“So you have a top researcher with you for as long as you need,” Biden said during his visit.
Residents made their feelings clear as his motorcade entered the village. Houses bordering the railway line had signs reading: ‘Help. Our children are still sick.’
Others, including out-of-town Trump supporters, complained that Biden had taken too long to visit.
But Conard said the day marked a step forward for their campaign to ensure residents were well cared for.
“I’d like to think this is the first of many discussions,” she said. ‘/I don’t think this is an easy solution.
“I think there will be actions that will continue to evolve over the next year. I don’t think this is a ‘fix and done’ situation.”
President Joe Biden visited East Palestine Friday afternoon to see firsthand the site of last year’s derailment, which sent toxic chemicals flowing through the Ohio village.
Before arriving in East Palestine, Biden met with first responders tackling the disaster at the Darlington Municipal Complex, just across the state line in Pennsylvania.
Biden arrived after meeting with first responders across the state line in Pennsylvania.
In eastern Palestine he was shown the site of the disaster and then gave a speech promising that aid would continue as long as it was needed.
He reserved his particular anger for Norfolk Southern, whose train derailed.
“There are acts of God,” he said. “This was an act of greed that was 100 percent preventable.”
The visit took him deep into Trump country, a county won by the former president in 2020 with more than 70 percent of votes cast.
Biden said none of that mattered.
“It’s about we’re all Americans, everyone, everyone, we take care of each other,” he said. ‘We leave no one behind.’