A lawsuit alleging for the first time that people died because of the disastrous 2023 East Palestine train derailment was announced on Monday’s second anniversary of the toxic crash near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border amid a flurry of new litigation.
On Monday, Vice President JD Vance 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 Protection Agency, Lee Zeldin, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and other dignitaries. He told a gathering of first responders and local elected officials that the town “will not be forgotten, will not be left behind.” Vance was a fledgling U.S. senator for Ohio when the fiery train accident took place.
In remarks following the tour and a community roundtable, Vance did not make entirely clear how much pressure the Trump administration will put on the railroads to continue improving safety or whether they will push for the bill Vance co-authored in response to the derailment. Three CEOs of the biggest railroads said last month they believe the administration will be supportive of the industry.
Vance said that he still believes “we continue to need to do b