Officials with Norfolk Southern, the rail company involved in the Feb. 3 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, as well as lawmakers and EPA administrators, should be on site to answer questions about the incident, said Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio.
"They need to be there," Johnson told Newsmax's "National Report" on Thursday, a day after Norfolk Southern backed out of an open-house meeting where residents affected by the derailment were supposed to voice concerns and frustrations.
"They should have been there a long time ago, the EPA administrator, especially, Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary, should have already been there, Norfolk Southern should have been there last night to respond to the questions," Johnson said.
"There's a lot more that could be being done. I'm just glad they're going to be there today. I'm anxious to see what they have to say. I've got some questions for the administrator myself."
East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway during the meeting said he invited Norfolk Southern "many times."
"They were in all the meetings, then today I got a phone call that they didn't feel safe," Conaway said to a chorus of shouts and boos from local residents. "I'm just as frustrated as you are ... I'm trying to get answers. I cannot force them to be here."
Johnson said he will stay on site "until these people get the answers they're looking for."
"I'm not a chemist. I'm not an engineer," Johnson said. "I can't answer questions about the quality of the water and the quality of the air. That's the EPA's responsibility and I'm going to be talking to the administrator about that today.
"It's their job to convince these people what the conditions of the air and the water are. It is Norfolk Southern's responsibility to tell those people what happened and what they're going to do to try and help them in the conditions that they currently find themselves in."
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.