President Joe Biden traveled to East Palestine, Ohio, on Friday to take stock of his administration’s response to the fiery train wreck and chemical spill that grabbed national attention a year ago.
The president announced that six National Institutes of Health grants had been awarded to research universities to study the long-term health impacts from the derailment.
“You’ll have a top researcher with you as long as you need, as long as it has to go on,” Biden said.
Biden met with local officials and was joined by EPA Administrator Michael Regan on the stop in the small town on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border. On the night of Feb. 3, 2023, a Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine, leading to residents evacuating and an ominous black plume in the sky from the “controlled burn” of the vinyl chloride on board in the days following the accident.
