On the very same day that Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine made the declaration that President Joe Biden needs to get off his keister and visit the community of East Palestine, Ohio as residents continue to be affected by a train derailment disaster that resulted in toxic chemicals being released into the environment, Biden issued a response to questions about his visiting the area by basically dismissing the idea of a visit coming up any time soon.
Of course, Biden was all about visiting Ukraine on President’s Day, strutting around like a fake Mafia tough guy in a video clip alongside the country’s president wearing sunglasses while air raid sirens go off in the background. It was cheesier than a slow motion action scene ripped right out of the latest Fast and the Furious installment.
“The February 3 train derailment forced 5,000 people to evacuate the town; tens of thousands of animals reportedly died from exposure to the toxic chemicals released after the derailment,” the Daily Wire said.
“The president needs to come. The people want to see the president. He should be there,” DeWine said during an interview on Fox & Friends. “’I just think now is the time, the president needs to come. It’s just important.”
When the president was asked by reporters whether or not he was going to visit the ravaged Ohio town, he said, “I have spoken with every official in Ohio, Democrat and Republican, on a continuing basis… I will be out there at some point.”
"*" indicates required fields
Earlier in the week, Republican Ohio Congressman Bill Johnson said, “President Biden has been conspicuously silent. … Mr. President, it’s past time for you to make the short trip to east Palestine and show up for the 5,000 Americans who call that little small Appalachian village. You pride yourself on your ‘Lunchbucket Joe’ nickname and tout your blue-collar Scranton, Pennsylvania roots, but Mr. President, there is nowhere more blue-collar than East Ohio and no people more deserving of hearing directly from their president right now than the residents of East Palestine. They want comfort. They wanna know you care. And they want commitment.”
Here’s more from the DW report:
Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and Texas A&M University tested the air in East Palestine on February 20 and 21; Benzene, toluene, xylenes, and vinyl chloride did not reach minimal risk levels for intermediate exposures according to the standards implemented by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
But Acrolein, which is utilized on algae, plants, and rodents, and can cause inflammation, respiratory tract and mucous membranes, according to the CDC, was found to be elevated
“It’s not elevated to the point where it’s necessarily like an immediate ‘evacuate the building’ health concern,” Dr. Albert Presto, who works as the associate research professor of mechanical engineering at Carnegie Mellon’s Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation, said during an appearance on CNN. “But, you know, we don’t know necessarily what the long-term risk is or how long that concentration that causes that risk will persist.”
Presto then went on to note that there were some residents who have reported suffering from rashes and breathing problems.
“When someone says to them then, ‘everything is fine everywhere,’ if I were that person, I wouldn’t believe that statement,” he remarked.
“I’ve been losing my voice off and on; my lungs burn. I feel like I can’t catch my breath,” one resident in East Palestine commented.
“Nausea, vomiting, rash, and had all the blood work and everything done,” said another individual.
“I think the real problem’s going to be five, ten years from now,” a third resident, who happens to be a sufferer of pulmonary fibrosis, posited.
