US Vice President JD Vance speaks at the East Palestine Fire Department as he visits East Palestine, Ohio, on February 3, 2025. Residents of East Palestine, Ohio, were forced to evacuate in February 2023, when a Norfolk Southern train carrying chemicals derailed, covering the area in thick black smoke. (Photo by REBECCA DROKE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Three years ago, J.D. Vance was Ohio’s Senator when the Norfolk Southern disaster occurred in East Palestine, Ohio, on February 3, 2023. Today, Vance is still fighting to get to the bottom of health and environmental concerns affecting East Palestine residents stemming from the derailment.
On August 28, Vance and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin sent a joint letter to the head of the U.S. Inspector General asking for a “comprehensive, independent investigation” into the derailment and the subsequent “vent and burn” of vinyl chloride.
Vance’s August 28 letter reads in part: “Given continued concerns that have been raised, we believe a thorough review is warranted of the decisions made by the federal agencies and private entities involved in the response during and after the incident that may have affected human health, actions that were taken to ensure environmental protection, public information that was provided and relied upon, and determinations for the needs of long-term monitoring… The people of East Palestine and surrounding communities deserve confidence that decisions affecting their health and environment were made using Gold Standard Science.”
A copy of the letter is on Vice President Vance’s X social media page.