The House Oversight and Accountability Committee is launching a probe into Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s response to the train derailment that caused a toxic chemical spill in East Palestine, Ohio amid bipartisan criticism over the federal government’s response to the incident.
A letter to Mr. Buttigieg on Friday raised concerns over the Department of Transportation’s “slow pace” in responding to the derailment and accused the department’s leadership of “apathy in the face of this emergency.”
“Despite the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) responsibility to ensure safe and reliable transport in the United States, you ignored the catastrophe for over a week,” the lawmakers, led by committee Chairman James Comer, Kentucky Republican, wrote.
The train, which derailed on Feb. 3, was carrying at least five hazardous chemicals forcing officials to release toxic fumes to avoid an explosion.
Mr. Buttigieg traveled to the site of the crash on Thursday after weeks of criticism from both parties for not going sooner.
Committee Republicans are demanding Mr. Buttigieg hand over all documents and communications regarding his public response to the incident. They are also demanding to know when he was alerted to the incident and what guidance he received regarding what his response should be.
“As Secretary of Transportation, you must provide transparency to the American public on this matter,” they wrote. “Instead, you have attempted to blame others for infrastructure that is within DOT’s ambit of responsibilities.”
The DOT declined to comment on the letter, stating that the department would respond directly to the lawmakers.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday defended the federal government’s response to the derailment and said attacks against Mr. Buttigieg were “pure politics.”
Ms. Jean-Pierre also brought up former Trump administration Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, saying that no one asked her to resign when a chemical spill or transportation incident happened under her watch.
“There’s been a lot of bad-faith attacks on Secretary Buttigieg,” she said. “If you remember Elaine Chao, she was the head of the Department of Transportation and when there [were] these types of chemical spills, nobody was calling for her to be fired.”
The National Transportation Safety Board has taken the lead in investigating the incident. The NTSB issued a preliminary report on Thursday indicating that the crew attempted to stop the train when they heard an alarm warning that wheel bearings hit “critical” temperatures.
In their letter on Friday, the lawmakers referred to the NTSB — an independent federal agency — as the “DOT’s National Transportation Safety Board.”
In a Twitter post on Friday, Mr. Buttigieg said he was “alarmed to learn that the Chair of the House Oversight Committee thinks that the NTSB is part of our Department.”
“Still, of course, we will fully review this and respond appropriately,” Mr. Buttigieg wrote.
- Jeff Mordock contributed to this story
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