Yet another Norfolk Southern freight train derailed on Saturday, this time in North Carolina, just days after Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg visited the East Palestine, Ohio, disaster and pointed out that there were a thousand accidents a year.
The train derailment occurred Saturday morning in Lexington, North Carolina, a Norfolk Southern spokesperson said in a statement.
“One of our trains traveling through Lexington derailed this morning. Of the 132 wagons of the train, 1 (set of wheels) derailed. There are no reports of a hazmat situation or danger to the public,” they wrote.
“Our crew is safe and additional personnel are on their way to begin cleanup,” they added. “We appreciate the patience and concern of the public near this area during the cleanup efforts.”
It comes just one day after one freight train derailed in Burlington, Vermont in the early morning hours Friday.
Yet another Norfolk Southern freight train derailed Saturday, this time in North Carolina, just days after Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg visited the disaster in East Palestine, Ohio (pictured)
Multiple Amtrak trains had to be stopped due to the crash, in which one set of wheels came off the rails, according to Fox news.
Norfolk Southern has claimed residents have nothing to worry about, but they may be skeptical after the Ohio disaster.
Transport sec. Pete Buttigieg said about 1,000 trains derail every year, as do those in East Palestine, Ohio and in Lexington, North Carolina.
President Joe Biden on Friday ordered federal agencies to go door-to-door in eastern Palestine, Ohio, starting Saturday to monitor the families affected by the toxic train derailment.
Under Biden’s orders, teams from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Environmental Protection Agency and Federal Emergency Management Agency will visit homes.
Employees will ask how residents are doing, see what they need and connect them with appropriate government and nonprofit resources, the White House said.
The ‘walk teams’ are modeled after similar teams after hurricanes and other natural disasters.
Biden ordered workers to reach as many homes as possible on Monday. Officials said the immediate goal was to visit at least 400. The president said he currently has no plans to visit Ohio in person.
Transport sec. Pete Buttigieg said about 1,000 trains derail every year, as do those in East Palestine, Ohio and in Lexington, North Carolina
Norfolk Southern President and CEO Alan Shaw speaks to reporters
President Joe Biden was speechless when he explained to reporters why he has yet to visit eastern Palestine, Ohio, three weeks after the toxic train derailment
The Biden administration has been accused of being apathetic to the plight of the small Ohio community where residents report worrying symptoms
Biden on Friday dismissed the notion that his administration was not present to assist in a bizarre exchange as he left the White House to spend the weekend at his Delaware home.
“We were there two hours after the train broke down. Two hours,” Biden said at the White House. “I’ve spoken to every major figure in both Pennsylvania and Ohio. And so the idea that we’re not engaged just isn’t there.”
But Democrats — including blundering Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg — have been accused of initially playing down the disaster. They were embarrassed to take it more seriously after a much-publicized visit to the site by former President Donald Trump earlier this week.
A resident of eastern Palestine awaits the arrival of former US President Donald Trump during his visit to the site of a train wreck and chemical spill in eastern Palestine
A resident displays a mannequin on their front porch in East Palestine, Ohio, as cleanup of the Norfolk Southern train derailment continues on Feb. 3
During Friday’s interaction, Biden struggled to remember the word Zoom told reporters: “Make a whole video, I mean, uh, who cares,” Biden wandered as he searched for reporters to fill the gap . ‘Zoom?’ said one of the reporters, trying to help the president.
‘Zoom! Every time I think of Zoom, all I can think of is that song from my generation, Who’s Zoomin’ Who,” he said, referring to the Aretha Franklin song.
A timeline released Friday by the White House said the DOT provided an “initial report of the incident” to members of Ohio’s congressional delegation and relevant committees on Saturday, Feb. 4, less than a day after the derailment.
That same day, EPA deployed real-time aerial surveillance tools at 12 sites around the wreckage and in the neighboring community, the White House said.
Residents of eastern Palestine have reported going to hospital due to rashes following the spill
Pictured: The site of the chemical spill as crews work to contain the contaminants on Friday
Pictured: The chemical fire releasing toxins into the air in eastern Palestine
The chemical spill has left many residents too afraid to shower as cleaning crews work to collect the destroyed train cars and their cargo
Defending his administration’s work, Biden said his team has been in Palestine since day one, but added that he was never invited to come and still has no plans to go.
Meanwhile, the controversy spread far beyond the small Ohio town. Officials in Texas and Michigan expressed concern about contaminated sewage and soil being shipped to their states for disposal.
Biden’s order came as House Republicans opened an investigation into the Feb. 3 derailment, blaming Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg for what they say was a delayed response to the fiery wreckage.
The focus on DOT came even as the EPA this week took charge of the federal response and ordered the Norfolk Southern Railway to pay for the cleanup and release of chemicals.
Rep. House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer became the latest lawmaker to plunge into a political proxy war as both sides come to blows after the derailment and chemical spill that led to the evacuation of the small Ohio community .
“Despite the responsibility of the U.S. Department of Transportation to ensure safe and reliable transportation in the United States, you ignored the catastrophe for more than a week,” the Kentucky Republican said in a letter to Buttigieg.
“The American people deserve answers to the question of what caused the derailment, and the DOT must provide an explanation for the leadership’s apathy to this emergency,” the letter continued.
Federal environmental authorities have ordered a temporary halt to shipments of contaminated waste from the site of a fiery train derailment earlier this month in eastern Ohio near the Pennsylvania state line.
Region 5 administrator Debra Shore of the Environmental Protection Agency said on Saturday the agency has ordered Norfolk Southern to “pause” shipments from the site of the Feb. 3 derailment in eastern Palestine, but vowed that removal of the material ” very soon’ would resume.
“Everyone wants this contagion to disappear from the community. They don’t want the worry, and they don’t want the stench, and we owe it to the people of eastern Palestine to remove it from the community as soon as possible,” Shore said.
Until Friday, Shore said, the railroad company was solely responsible for disposing of the waste and provided Ohio environmental officials with a list of selected and used landfills. Going forward, disposal plans, including locations and transportation routes for contaminated waste, will be subject to EPA review and approval, she said.
