Two Years After East Palestine Disaster, Fight for Rail Safety Continues

Major railroads should not be allowed to regulate their own safety standards and practices, according to Pennsylvania Congressman Chris Deluzio. He was speaking at a virtual media briefing from Washington, D.C., held exactly two years after a fiery train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, released millions of pounds of chemicals into the surrounding community’s air and water, and culminated in a toxic fire that lasted days. In June 2024, The Guardian reported that chemicals released during the train wreck fires were carried across 16 U.S. states, according to research of federal precipitation and pollution data.

At the February 3 briefing, rail safety advocates asserted that federal leaders and railroads have not done enough to prevent a similar disaster from occurring again. That same day, a lawsuit alleging for the first time that people died because of the disastrous train derailment was announced, according to PBS. 

Vice President JD Vance on February 3 visited the small community he used to represent as a senator, and toured the cleanup with President Donald Trump’s newly confirmed head of the Environmental Protecti…