Biden Visits Ohio Town 1 Year After Toxic Train Derailment

LOADING ERROR LOADING President Joe Biden visited the disaster-stricken rural village of East Palestine, Ohio, on Friday, more than a year after a freight train loaded with hundreds of thousands of pounds of toxic chemicals derailed there. Biden called the response and recovery efforts in East Palestine over the last year “Herculean” and vowed to hold rail giant Norfolk Southern fully accountable for the disaster. The vast majority has been done, but we’re going to stay until the very end, every need is met.” Jami Wallace, a lifelong resident of East Palestine and president of the Unity Council for the East Palestine Train Derailment, told HuffPost ahead of Biden’s visit that the president should have traveled to the community a year ago. President Joe Biden speaks Friday after receiving an operational briefing on the continuing response and recovery efforts at the site of a train derailment that spilled hazardous chemicals a year ago in East Palestine, Ohio. MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images In anticipation of Biden’s trip, community members, independent scientists and Ohio lawmakers called on the Biden administration to take additional steps to help East Palestine.