President Joe Biden to travel to East Palestine next week, a year after derailment

President Joe Biden will travel to East Palestine, Ohio, about a year after a Norfolk Southern train derailed there and spilled a cocktail of dangerous chemicals

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will travel to East Palestine, Ohio, on Friday, about a year after a Norfolk Southern train derailed there, spilling a cocktail of dangerous chemicals that caught fire.

The White House said Saturday that the president would travel there to ensure state and local officials “hold Norfolk Southern accountable.”

East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway, a conservative who does not support Biden, presented the invitation to the Democratic president and said the visit will be good for his community.

The Feb. 3, 2023 derailment forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border. Local residents still fear the possible health effects of the toxic chemicals spilled in the accident, as well as the vinyl chloride released a few days after the crash to prevent tanker trucks from exploding.

Biden’s decision not to visit the site until now had become the subject of persistent questioning by reporters at the White House, as well as among residents of eastern Palestine. Some residents have said they felt forgotten over time, watching the president fly to the scenes of other disasters, including the wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui and hurricanes in Florida.