President Biden pledges help during first visit to East Palestine train derailment site 

President Biden spent his first visit to East Palestine following the one-year anniversary of the train derailment at the site of the crash, meeting with community members, local leaders and business owners affected.

Biden told East Palestine his administration isn’t done helping with the clean-up and righting the wrong done to the community’s long-term health and well-being.

“Today I am announcing the award of six National Institute of Health grants to some of America’s best research universities to study the short and long term impacts of what happened here,” he said. “That includes top researchers at Case Western University, just north of here, researchers who will be with you as long as you need. I also want to restate my support for the rail safety bill.”

The president said his administration will “continue to hold Norfolk Southern accountable.”

“My administration ordered Norfolk Southern to clean up the mess it created and ensure it was done right; that includes the executive order I signed to continue to hold Norfolk Southern accountable for this disaster and any long term effects that’ll later be identified as time goes on. Not just here, but also in Darlington, Pa., which I just visited,” he said.

Arrival of Air Force One

Air Force One and President Biden arrived at 2:30 p,m, at the Pittsburgh International Airport in Coraopolis to travel to East Palestine across the Ohio border.

The presidential motorcade put a halt to traffic through usually quiet parts of southeast Pennsylvania and bordering Ohio state routes. Streets were shut down by Pennsylvania troopers all along state route 376 to allow the president’s procession through quickly without having to stop.

He first stopped at Darlington Township Fire Department in Pennsylvania, just three miles outside of East Palestine.

The president met with local firefighters, township officials and emergency personnel, thanking them for being “the heart and soul of the community of Darlington.”

He took time to shake each of their hands and repeated their names back to them before asking if they had any questions for him.

Next the presidential motorcade headed to the site of the derailment in East Palestine.

Around 4 p.m., Biden visited the site of the clean-up and addressed the East Palestine community gathered there.

He spoke alongside Trent Conaway, mayor of East Palestine and Mike Regan, with the U.S. EPA.

“This was not an act of God. This is an act of greed,” he said. “We will continue to hold Norfolk Southern accountable. Make sure they make your community whole again, and what they do not make whole, what they can not make whole, the government will make whole. We have an obligation. Norfolk Southern failed its responsibility.”

He commended East Palestine for its “courage and resilience” and the compassion shown for fellow citizens.

After visiting the site of the derailment, President Biden stopped at 1820 Candle Company.

He had coffee with the mother-daughter team behind the business, as well as Gretchen Nickell, chief medical officer at East Liverpool

She talked to Biden about the East Palestine Clinic for residents to come in and get assistance with any health issues they had after the derailment.

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