Washington Post Finds Trump Policies Did Not Influence Train Derailment

The WaPo report comes after Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg blamed Trump-era policies for the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment.

QUICK FACTS:
  • The Washington Post conducted an analysis of “every possible regulatory change” to determine if Trump administration regulations contributed to the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment that resulted in toxic chemical exposure.
  • “From our analysis, none of the regulatory changes made during the Trump administration at this point can be cited as contributing to the accident,” the report states.
  • One of the Trump administration moves in question was the repeal of an Obama-era proposed policy that required Electronically Controlled Pneumatic (ECP) breaks on “high hazard” trains.
  • U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg claimed Trump’s repeal of this law contributed to the derailment, although it was found the Ohio train did not have ECP breaks and was not considered “high hazard.” The Trump policy had “minimal” influence on the derailment, according to the report.
  • National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) chair Jennifer Homendy said the policy was not associated with the Ohio incident, tweeting, “The ECP braking rule would’ve applied ONLY to HIGH HAZARD FLAMMABLE TRAINS. The train that derailed in East Palestine was a MIXED FREIGHT TRAIN containing only 3 placarded Class 3 flammable liquids cars,” adding “This means even if the rule had gone into effect, this train wouldn’t have had ECP brakes.”
  • Other Trump-era regulations analyzed by the WaPo included safety inspections, crew requirements, and pollutant emissions. None of the rules had any correlation with the East Palestine incident.
MORE DISASTERS IN OHIO:
  • An explosion occurred at a metal manufacturing plant in Bedford, Ohio, killing one person and injuring at least a dozen others.
  • Four environmental scientists were killed en route to the explosion site after their twin-engine plane crashed, killing the pilot as well.
  • The scientists worked for the Center for Toxicology and Environmental Health, specializing in environmental data collection and incident management, according to The Daily Mail.
  • It is unknown what caused the plane departing from Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport in Little Rock, Arkansas, to crash, although some speculate strong winds and thunderstorms are a factor.
BACKGROUND:
  • American Faith reported that Pete Buttigieg refused to answer why he took nearly three weeks to visit East Palestine.
  • Buttigieg’s press secretary was also unwilling to answer questions from Turning Point USA reporter Savanah Hernandez on camera, saying Hernandez and the cameras were “a little bit aggressive.”

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