East Palestine resident Dr. Rick Tsai slammed President Joe Biden on Wednesday, claiming that the federal government hasn’t given “one penny” to the community, ahead of Biden’s anticipated visit.
Tsai appeared on Fox Business’ “The Bottom Line” to discuss his feelings towards Biden’s upcoming scheduled visit one year after the fatal train derailment. Fox co-host Sean Duffy questioned the city local on whether residents feel that Biden’s newly scheduled visit is a “cynical” campaign stop. (RELATED: Biden To Visit East Palestine One Year After Toxic Train Derailment)
“I don’t mean to be cynical, but if you’re thinking about campaigns – going to see people, helping people, that didn’t vote for you, they still may not vote for you, but there’s a lot of independents. There’s a lot of Democrats and soft Republicans that will love that because it shows that you care. And that not showing up shows how cynical you are. And I have to say, [is] that the way the people in East Palestine feel – is that this is just a cynical visit that’s just a campaign stop?” Duffy questioned.
Tsai agreed with Duffy’s sentiment, stating that Biden should have been there when the accident happened, emphasizing that he believes the president is “stuck between a rock and a hard place.” The East Palestine local went on to claim that the community hasn’t received anything from the federal government, alleging that the creek is still “contaminated” with chemicals.
“Absolutely, we’re all Americans. He should have been here right when this happened, just like President Trump. So I think he has to come because he’s stuck between a rock and a hard place, and we don’t appreciate that type of attitude. We haven’t got one penny or one single bottle of water from the federal government. They have put the entity [Norfolk Southern] in charge of causing the accident in charge of the cleanup,” Tsai stated.
“I just took some media down to the creek today, when the EPA says they can’t find any evidence of chemicals. I took dry dirt from the park, two miles from the crash site, I threw that dirt into the creek and chemicals come out of the creek. It’s disgusting and it’s still contaminated here and we’re just getting filled with lies.”
The White House announced Wednesday that Biden will be visiting the Ohio city to meet with residents who have been affected by the train derailment in early February 2023, which released toxic chemicals. Following the derailment, Biden neglected to visit the site, instead sending other administration officials, including Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. (RELATED: Tapper Confronts Buttigieg Over Biden Not Visiting East Palestine)
Multiple federal agencies, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Transportation (DOT), National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), were sent to Palestine following the derailment to clean up the toxic spill and provide aid to residents with health concerns. By the end of February 2023, the EPA had ordered the railroad company behind the derailment, Norfolk Southern, to “conduct all necessary actions associated with the cleanup,” working out a plan for all “steps necessary,” according to a press release.
Norfolk Southern eventually paid $21 million to 4,536 families affected and agreed to pay residents a temporary relocation fee as the cleaning process continued. However, while the payments are set to come to an end by Feb. 9, Congressional lawmakers from both the House and Senate recently agreed on a $78 billion tax package, which will include a relief payment exemption for state and local taxes for residents, according to Spectrum News.