February 16, 2023 Updated: February 16, 2023
Transportation Secretary
Pete Buttigieg listens to a question during a press conference following a tour
of a Southside transportation hub in Chicago, Ill., on July 16, 2021. (Scott
Olson/Getty Images)
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) on Thursday called for the
immediate resignation of U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)
Secretary Pete
Buttigieg after
the Ohio train derailment, expressing doubts about Buttigieg’s ability to
ensure public safety among other issues.
In a Feb. 16 letter to
President Joe Biden, Rubio accused Buttigieg of repeatedly demonstrating a
“gross level of incompetence and apathy” that puts the safety and prosperity of
the American people at risk.
Rubio pointed to the
recent train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, and several other
examples of crises and issues within the transportation system that Buttigieg
has allegedly downplayed or ignored.
“It is painfully clear to
the American people that Secretary Buttigieg has little regard for the duties
of the Secretary of Transportation,” Rubio wrote (pdf).
“At no time has that been
more apparent than the past two weeks. Secretary Buttigieg refused to
acknowledge the disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, until his intentional
ignorance was no longer tenable,” he continued. “Even after acknowledging the
tragedy, he continues to deflect any accountability for the safety of our
nation’s rail system.”
On Thursday, responding
to footage from a town hall meeting in East Palestine in the aftermath of the
derailment, Buttigieg said the DOT is standing ready for the findings of the
National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) investigation into the Ohio
derailment.
“Look, rail safety is
something that has evolved a lot over the years, but there’s clearly more that
needs to be done because while this horrible situation has gotten a
particularly high amount of attention, there are roughly 1,000 cases a year of
a train derailing,” Buttigieg told Yahoo.
“Obviously, they have
levels of severity, but where all of that points us to is a need to continue to
raise the bar on rail safety. And that’s especially true when it comes to rail
that involves hazardous materials,” he continued. “Now this train was subject
to certain enhanced requirements because of hazardous materials on board. But
obviously, none of that prevented what happened in East Palestine. It’s one of
the reasons we’re going to be paying very close attention to the findings that
NTSB comes back with.”
However, for Rubio, the
Ohio train derailment is another example of what he called a concerning
two-year pattern of neglect. He said that the circumstances leading up to the
recent derailment indicate a “clear lack of oversight” and “demand engagement
by our nation’s top transportation official.”
Demanding
Oversight
Rubio’s letter to Biden
comes one day after he and Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) wrote to
Buttigieg calling on the transportation secretary to account for
“oversight” of the freight train system in the wake of the Feb. 3 derailment.
On Feb. 3, just before 9
p.m., a 50-car Norfolk Southern freight train carrying hazardous
materials such as vinyl chloride, a cancer-causing chemical, derailed in East Palestine,
Ohio. Other potentially hazardous chemicals were also onboard.
According to surveillance
footage, parts of the train were already on fire shortly before it derailed.
To avoid a potential
explosion, Norfolk Southern conducted a “controlled release” of the chemicals
on Feb. 6, which involved burning the chemicals and releasing fumes into the
air.
The senators suggested
that a mechanical issue with one of the train cars may have caused the
derailment, and pointed to concerns raised by rail workers about precision-scheduled
railroading (PSR), a cost-cutting measure used by rail companies that some view
as a safety risk.
“We have voiced concerns
with PSR, as well as with this administration’s prioritizing of efficiency over
resilience in its national infrastructure and transportation systems,” the
senators wrote (pdf).
“Derailments have
reportedly increased in recent years, as has the rate of total accidents or
safety-related incidents per track mile. The trade-off for Class I rail
companies, of course, has been reduced labor costs, having shed nearly
one-third of their workforce.”
Rubio and Vance urged
Buttigieg to provide explanations regarding the Department of Transportation’s
stance on several safety concerns within the next 30 days.
An environmental company is removing dead
fish downstream from the site of the train derailment that forced people to be
evacuated from their homes in East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 6, 2023. (Alan
Freed/Reuters)
Health
of Surrounding Environment
In their Feb. 15 letter
to Buttigieg, the senators asserted that in addition to the vinyl
chloride, which was burnt off, the other chemicals are leaching into the
surrounding air and water.
“While railroad crews
drained and burned chemicals to prevent a major explosion, concerns have grown
in the weeks since of significant damage to the health of the surrounding
environment and communities in the region,” they wrote.
On Thursday, Vance went
to East Palestine and filmed a video at a nearby creek demonstrating how
chemicals had leaked into the environment. In the video, Vance scrapes a stick
along the ground, causing an unknown oily substance to bubble up and form on
the surface of the shallow water. Other footage shows a similar event.
The Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) said in a statement on Feb. 14 that the agency is
collaborating with its Ohio counterpart to assess the spill’s effects on
surface and groundwater.
EPA Regional
Administrator Debra Shore said state and local agencies are conducting tests in
the Ohio River to guarantee that drinking water sources are not compromised.
ONG 52nd Civil Support Team members prepare
to enter an incident area to assess remaining hazards with a lightweight
inflatable decontamination system (LIDS) in East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 7,
2023. (Ohio National Guard via AP)
‘No
Confidence’ in Buttigieg
In his letter to Biden
calling for Buttigieg’s resignation, Rubio also accused Buttigieg of
misusing taxpayer funds by chartering private jets beyond allowed limits and
for potential political travel, and of being “completely absent” during
maritime and surface transportation disruptions in 2021 and the impending rail
strike in 2022.
“Near misses in
commercial aviation, as well as recent system failures, including the one that
shut down air travel in Florida in January, indicate that serious and
persistent problems across the DOT are not being sufficiently remedied,” Rubio
wrote.
“I do not have confidence
that Secretary Buttigieg is capable of keeping the American people safe,” Rubio
wrote.
Rubio urged Biden to hold
Buttigieg to the same level of accountability as any public official and uphold
his promise of transparency and accountability.
The Epoch Times contact
the DOT for comment.
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