President Donald Trump’s National Institutes of Health is reportedly working on a health study concerning the February 3, 2023, train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, that resulted in toxic chemical spills.
On Thursday, the Trump administration’s leading health officials joined Fox News to discuss their efforts to deliver on the president’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda.
‘President Trump and I have never forgotten the people of East Palestine, and we will never stop fighting for the cleanup effort in this community to be completed.’
NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya told host Bret Baier that the agency has partnered with Vice President JD Vance to conduct a health study for the residents of East Palestine.
“The study that most people don’t know about that the NIH has been doing — we’ve been working with Vice President Vance to look at a study and find answers for people affected in East Palestine by that train disaster that happened during the Biden administration,” Bhattacharya said.
“Shockingly, the NIH had not asked that question,” he continued. “But what I’m looking forward to is that we’re going to address the health questions and the health needs of the American people with excellent, gold-standard research.”
In February, Vance visited East Palestine on the second anniversary of the disaster.
“President Trump and I have never forgotten the people of East Palestine, and we will never stop fighting for the cleanup effort in this community to be completed,” Vance wrote in a post on X. “We are with you for the long haul.”
He guaranteed the community that the environmental cleanup would be completed, calling it “a tragedy and a shame” that the Biden administration failed to finish the effort.
Former President Joe Biden took a year to visit the town after the disaster.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s preliminary data in 2023 found that “concentrations for nine of the approximately 50 chemicals measured were relatively high in comparison to the levels considered safe for lifetime exposure.”
“Overall, if ambient levels persisted for these chemicals, they could pose health concerns, either individually (e.g., acrolein, a known respiratory irritant) or cumulatively. Thus, subsequent, spatiotemporal analysis was pertinent,” the report added.
In September, a federal judge approved a $600 million settlement between Norfolk Southern, the company that operated the train, and East Palestine residents.
Less than two weeks ago, an Ohio jury determined that Norfolk Southern would be responsible for paying the entirety of the settlement, finding that GATX, the company that owned the derailed train cars, will not have to assist with paying the settlement.
“For more than two years, Norfolk Southern has paid the costs related to the derailment while acknowledging and acting on our own responsibility for the accident. Our belief has always been that GATX shares in that responsibility and should also be held to account,” Norfolk Southern stated.
GATX said it was “pleased with the trial outcome,” adding that the jury’s decision “affirms what we have known for some time: Norfolk Southern alone is responsible for the derailment and resulting damage in East Palestine.”
The NIH did not respond to Blaze News’ request for comment.
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