Ohio Rep. Johnson: Biden hasn’t kept promise to visit toxic site

(NewsNation) — It’s been seven months since a train derailment spilled toxic chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio, and one congressman is losing faith that President Joe Biden will keep his word to visit the site of the disaster.

Republican Rep. Bill Johnson says the Biden administration has been dragging its feet from the start.

“I’m not gonna hold my breath,” Johnson said of a potential Biden visit. “He’s promised before, and he didn’t keep the promise the first time.”

The White House has repeated for weeks that Biden plans on going to East Palestine, but there are still no details of a confirmed visit. Meanwhile, Biden in August completed trips to Hawaii and Florida to survey damage done by wildfires and a hurricane.

During his travels to Florida to survey damage from Hurricane Idalia, Biden addressed why he has yet to visit East Palestine since the Feb. 3 train derailment.

“I haven’t had the occasion to go to East Palestine. There’s a lot going on here, and I just haven’t been able to break,” the president told reporters.

One resident called the excuse “reprehensible.”

East Palestine residents have criticized the state and federal response to the train derailment, particularly the cleanup. They say they haven’t been given all the answers on whether the air and water are safe and have reported lingering health problems.

State and federal agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency say their testing shows safe levels, but an expert who has done independent testing says otherwise.

“I talked to a farm family last week that actually sold their home and moved out of the neighborhood because of some of the health concerns that they had,” Johnson said. “The people in East Palestine are frustrated. They still have a lot of unanswered questions.”

Johnson is a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which will hold a field hearing Sept. 22 in East Palestine.