MYOB

Ron DeSantis requested the information of trans students who sought care at Florida's public universities. Now students are planning a statewide walkout.

Annalise Mabe
Wed, February 22, 2023 

Students at the University of South Florida gather to protest the request.Justin Blanco

Ron DeSantis told all public universities in Florida to hand over medical data on services performed related to gender dysphoria.


Insider has confirmed six of the 12 universities have complied with the request.


Now, college students across the state are planning a walkout to protest the governor's request.

Students across Florida are planning a statewide walkout after Gov. Ron DeSantis requested all public universities comply in delivering data from student health services on transgender students who sought gender-affirming care at the institutions.

DeSantis asked to see a breakdown of the medical data of students who received gender-affirming care from public entities. This includes anyone in the general public who sought gender-affirming care at the hospitals located at these public universities. In addition, he wants their ages and the dates they received gender-affirming care. The deadline to submit those records was February 10.


Insider has confirmed that University of Florida, Florida State University, University of Central Florida, Florida A&M University, Florida International University, and the University of North Florida have complied with the request, but has yet to hear back from the rest.

Students at these universities are now planning rallies for next week along with the statewide walkout on February 23. Ben Braver, a junior at the University of South Florida and the outreach officer for the school's College Democrats chapter, is leading the initiative, known as the Stand for Freedom Florida Walkout.

"Hate is spread when it's innocuous, when it seems silly, and when it seems like taking a stand is an overreaction," Braver told Insider. "We, just like any generation, need to stand for the civil rights that have already been fought for, the ones that have been won, and those which are at stake right now."

Andy Pham, a senior and long-standing member of the University of South Florida's Trans+ Student Union, said he sees the state's move as a direct attack on trans rights.

"They want to legislate us out of existence," Pham said. "That starts with attacking our healthcare, attacking our right to exist in public spaces, attempting surveillance — all of that."

In January, 20 students at the University of South Florida held a rally protesting DeSantis' request. They then started an online petition asking the school's administration not to submit the medical information. The petition received over 2,600 signatures, but officials at the school said they plan to send over the records anyway. Insider hasn't been able to confirm whether the University of South Florida sent over the data.

"As a state university, USF has an obligation to be responsive to requests from our elected officials," the university said in a statement, according to WUSF. "However, the university will not provide information that identifies an individual patient or violates patient privacy laws."

Among those signing on to support the walkout are the Dream Defenders, Florida College Democrats, state lawmaker Anna Eskamani, and 26-year-old Congressman Maxwell Frost.

"The governor's abusing his power," Frost told Insider. "He's targeting folks that disagree with him — people who might not see eye to eye with him, marginalized communities."

When Insider asked why the state has requested the health data of transgender college students from public universities, the state's deputy press secretary, Jeremy Redfern, said: "We are committed to fully understanding the amount of public funding that is going toward such nonacademic pursuits to best assess how to get our colleges and universities refocused on education and truth."

Eskamani said DeSantis should prepare for student backlash.

"When students see the visual representation of their peers around them standing up and walking out, they're going to get plugged in and help us fight back," she said. "That will happen."

 Insider

College protestors call on DeSantis to lay off diversity efforts in Florida

Kayla Jimenez, USA TODAY
Thu, February 23, 2023 

Florida college students are livid with Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis for targeting the civil rights of LGBTQ+ students and people of color by pushing to ban diversity, equity, and inclusion, limiting discussion of racism and privilege in schools and his threats to do more.

Sort of.

A small number of protestors walked out of their college classes Thursday during a planned statewide protest of DeSantis and his policies. One man at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville carried a "Keep Surveillance Out of Education!" sign and a Pride flag. Others at Florida International University waved signs that read "Trans Rights = Human Rights." In a similar scene at the University of Florida, about 100 people on a campus of more than 55,000 students held signs advocating for transgender healthcare and said the state is restricting free thought and expression.

The Florida College Democrats and Dream Defenders organized Thursday's "Stand for Freedom" movement and walkout, challenging DeSantis' education-related policies and threats targeting the civil rights of LGBTQ+ students and people of color.

They are calling on the DeSantis administration to restore diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in colleges and universities, according to the "Stand for Freedom" pledge.

"We are Florida’s students and citizens. It is our education that is being tarnished and our schools being discredited," the pledge states. "This is our fight for freedom."

'This is our fight for freedom': Florida college students plan statewide walkout against Gov. DeSantis.

Last month, DeSantis' announced plans to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion efforts made in previous years across Florida campuses. His legislative proposal would ban colleges and universities from spending money, regardless of its source, on support for initiatives related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, critical race theory or "other discriminatory initiatives."

In response to a question about the protests, a DeSantis spokesperson referred to an earlier statement.

“In Florida, we will build off of our higher education reforms by aligning core curriculum to the values of liberty and the Western tradition, eliminating politicized bureaucracies like DEI, increasing the amount of research dollars for programs that will feed key industries with talented Florida students, and empowering presidents and boards of trustees to recruit and hire new faculty, including by dedicating record resources for faculty salaries,” said DeSantis on Jan. 31.

Rev. Al Sharpton, Black leaders: DeSantis is 'wrong to mess with Black history'

What do Florida college students say?

Those who participated in the University of Florida protest said DeSantis is abusing his political power by overreaching into the education system, including K-12 schools, by dictating what kind of curriculum can be taught in classrooms.

About 100 University of Florida students gathered at Turlington Hall on Thursday afternoon, part of a statewide walkout in protest of recent education-related efforts by Gov. Ron DeSantis, including his policies targeting LGBTQ+ and people of color.

Sabrina Briceno, a member University of Florida’s College Democrats and Stand For Freedom Florida, said the students protesting want to "accurately learn our history, and that includes history that he might not agree with."

On the Florida State University campus, Ava Anderson said she doesn't agree with any of the policies DeSantis has introduced.

“Personally, I feel like we’re going in a factious direction," the 21-year-old sociology and psychology major said. "I’m Jewish, so it does scare me to see how he’s criticizing people’s identities.”

And in Sarasota at New College of Florida, which has been a focus of DeSantis' efforts to create a more conservative education model, professor Debarati Biswas said she fully supports the students.

"We value academic freedom at New College... the students are choosing what they want to learn," Biswas said. "They are creating their own curriculum and that brings with it growth and critical thinking."

'Black history is not inferior': Black leaders object to Florida's 'culture war against African Americans'

University of Florida student Madigan Wilford, center, came out in support of the trans population during a planned a statewide walkout in protest of recent education-related efforts by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

A protest at Florida State University's campus in Tallahassee earlier this month drew about 50 people rallying against DeSantis' initiatives. A political activism group called Students for a Democratic Society led that movement to protest against his efforts to remove DEI from college curricula across the state, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.

Board shake-ups, threats to tenure: How conservatives are reshaping colleges

How is DeSantis shaping education in Florida?

DeSantis' announcement is just his latest action on academia.

Earlier this year he replaced several members of the board of trustees with conservative appointees at New College of Florida, attributing low student enrollment and other financial challenges to the college’s “skewed focus and impractical course offerings.” They quickly fired the progressive public institution's president. “New College of Florida has been completely captured by a political ideology that puts trendy, truth-relative concepts above learning,” Bryan Griffin, DeSantis’s press secretary, previously told USA TODAY.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis addresses the crowd before publicly signing the Stop WOKE Act in April 2022.

DeSantis Stop WOKE Act, legislation intended to limit discussion of racism and privilege in schools and workplace trainings, became law in 2022. A federal judge last year partially blocked the law from being applied to public universities.

During the 2022 election, DeSantis endorsed and helped finance conservative school board candidates in several districts, most of whom won their races. This week, DeSantis shared a list of 14 school board members he hopes to help oust in 2024 because they "do not protect parental rights and have failed to protect students from woke ideologies."

He rejected the College Board's new AP African American Studies course, saying it violates Florida law and lacks educational value.

Why are colleges offering up more DEI degrees? Demand for diversity expertise is growing.

DeSantis signed another bill last year, dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" law, which bans instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade.

DeSantis' administration asked 12 state universities for information about how many people were diagnosed with gender dysphoria or received treatment in campus clinics across Florida. It's not clear what will be done with the data.

CRT and DEI: What do those terms really mean?

Contributing: Tarah Jean, Tallahassee Democrat; Samantha Gholar, Sarasota Herald-Tribune; and Alan Festo, Gainesville Sun

Contact Kayla Jimenez at kjimenez@usatoday.com. Follow her on Twitter at @kaylajjimenez.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Protesters call on DeSantis to lay off diversity efforts in Florida

Florida students walk out to protest DeSantis race education policies

KIARA ALFONSECA
Thu, February 23, 2023 

Hundreds of students across Florida walked out Thursday in protest against Gov. Ron DeSantis and his policies concerning higher education.

Students walked out of their classrooms at the University of South Florida, University of Florida, Florida State University, and more in opposition of his efforts. Some high school students also joined in on the statewide walkout.

DeSantis recently announced plans to ban colleges and universities from having programs on diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as critical race theory.

Critical race theory is a discipline that seeks to understand how racism has shaped U.S. laws and how those laws have continued to impact the lives of non-white people.


DeSantis also signed the so-called "Stop WOKE" Act into law in 2022, which restricts race-related curriculum and conversation in workplaces, schools and colleges. However, it has been temporarily blocked from being implemented in colleges and universities. The law is still being battled out in court.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks as he announces a proposal for Digital Bill of Rights, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023, at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Fla. (Wilfredo Lee/AP)

“I think people want to see true academics and they want to get rid of some of the political window dressing that seems to accompany all this," DeSantis said at a January news conference about the effort.

Students protesting DeSantis say they value their academic freedom and liken the efforts of his administration to censorship.

MORE: Some educators slam DeSantis' war on 'woke' in education

"We want to take these classes and for the state to come in and say, 'Well, we might not want to allow you to have that' … At what point are college students going to be considered adults by the state of Florida?" Jonathon Chavez, president of College Democrats at USF, told ABC News.

He continued, "We want to make our own decisions and our education, how we want to better ourselves. We think it's quite silly that the state would try to restrict that."

DeSantis' office did not respond to ABC News' requests for comment.

The Florida State University (FSU) college entrance is pictured in Tallahassee, Fla. (Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Dream Defenders, a group of Black and brown anti-racism activists, are hosting "Black History teach-ins" amid the walkouts to combat the plethora of efforts from DeSantis to restrict race-related education.

“Ron DeSantis has been on a rampage. He’s banning books and flags in classrooms everywhere. He’s making sure our history isn’t getting taught. He’s getting rid of teachers, professors and faculty that look like us and support us,” said Nailah Summers, the co-executive director of the Dream Defenders, who publicly called for a statewide day of action, along with the newly formed Stand for Freedom, a coalition of student organizations spanning Florida’s college campuses. “He’s made it harder to protest, harder to vote, and harder to live in Florida.”

MORE: AP African American studies revised framework released after conservative backlash

DeSantis' administration is also under fire by demonstrators for reportedly requiring state schools to provide information about gender-affirming care they've provided for students.

"At our schools, we found that transgender students [had stopped] receiving those services", said Chavez. "They don't know what that is going to be used for. They're scared that it might be used to restrict them further. And that's a very real and tangible outcome for a very simple request."

Officials up estimate of animals killed by Ohio derailment to nearly 44,000

Julia Mueller
Thu, February 23, 2023 

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) has upped its estimate for the number of animals killed by the derailment of train cars carrying hazardous chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio, to nearly 44,000.

The department estimates around 38,222 minnows were killed by the derailment within a 5-mile span, plus around 5,500 other species, including other small fish, amphibians, crayfish and macroinvertebrates, ODNR Director Mary Merks said in a statement.

The original estimate was approximately 3,500 dead aquatic species, based on observations from Feb. 6-7, shortly after the Feb. 3 derailment. ODNR’s team responded to the waterways the morning after the spill, but were warned by the Ohio EPA “that it was too dangerous to enter the water without specialized gear and equipment.”

Several of the 38 Norfolk Southern train cars that derailed in East Palestine earlier this month carried vinyl chloride, a hazardous and potentially cancer-causing chemical used in plastics production.

To avert an explosion, the chemicals were burned in an attempted “controlled release,” further stoking environmental concerns about the quality of the local land, air and water following the incident.

Although dead animals remain in the waterways affected by the chemical spill, Merks underscored that the animals are believed to have been killed “immediately after the derailment” and noted that live fish have since been observed returning to parts of the area.

“Because the chemicals were contained, we haven’t seen any additional signs of aquatic life suffering,” Merks said. She also noted no dead aquatic life was observed in the nearby Ohio River.

The ODNR estimate is based on a collected sample of dead aquatic species, and the department says it doesn’t believe any of the affected animals were endangered.

“We are awaiting test results of several non-aquatic animals including three birds, and an opossum,” Merks said. “We do not believe any of these animals were made sick by the train derailment, but we have submitted those specimens to the Ohio Department of Agriculture and will wait for those test results before making that judgement.”

The Hill

ODNR: East Palestine train derailment killed roughly 40,000 fish

Paige Bennett, The Repository
Thu, February 23, 2023 

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources says there are no signs of aquatic life suffering in and around East Palestine roughly three weeks after the train derailment.

Agency Director Mary Mertz said Thursday that officers have been on site every day since the Feb. 3 derailment of a Norfolk Southern train carrying toxic chemicals and believe all the fish killed as a result of the incident died immediately.

Officials estimated 38,222 minnows and around 5,550 other species, such as other fish, crayfish and amphibians, were killed during the derailment. The deaths occurred in a five-mile span within the impact area, which runs from the derailment site to Sulphur Run, Leslie Run, Bull Creek and North Fork Little Beaver Creek.

None of the species killed are threatened or endangered, Mertz said.

"Because the chemicals were contained, we haven't seen any additional signs of aquatic life suffering, and, in fact, we have seen live fish already return to Leslie Run," she said.

Workers pump water into a creek that runs through East Palestine.

The ODNR held a virtual news conference Thursday morning to discuss the impact on wildlife of the derailment and chemical burn of vinyl chloride to prevent a potential explosion. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has identified four other substances that leaked into the air, water and soil during the derailment: butyl acrylate, ethylhexyl acrylate, ethylene glycol monobutyl ether and isobutylene.

There have been anecdotal reports of animals in and around East Palestine becoming sick or dying. Murray & Murray, a Sandusky-based law firm, filed a lawsuit against Norfolk Southern that claims animals and fish are dying as far as 20 miles away from the derailment site.

A West Virginia University student who took videos of waterways in East Palestine told Cleveland 19 News he found tens of thousands of dead fish and frogs in the water.

Mertz said ODNR hasn't seen an impact on species that feed on or interact with the ones killed. The agency received reports of three dead birds and an opossum in the area and sent the animals to the Ohio Department of Agriculture for testing, which found no evidence of chemical poisoning.

"We have no reason to believe that those terrestrial animal deaths were as a result of the spill," she said.

A majority of the dead fish have been removed from the waterways.

ODNR will continue to monitor the environmental impact during cleanup. There is no time estimate for how long it will take for the ecological system to recover.

ODNR map by Rick Armon on Scribd

How did ODNR calculate aquatic deaths in East Palestine?

Mertz said ODNR officers arrived in East Palestine the morning after the derailment to survey the waterways to determine the impact on aquatic life. The Ohio EPA advised ODNR personnel that it was too dangerous to enter the water without specialized equipment. In response, ODNR consulted with Enviroscience, an environmental consulting firm that was already on site working to contain the spill.

Enviroscience used ODNR's standards to survey the water for dead aquatic species. They established four collection stations and gathered data on Feb. 6 and 7.

Officials previously said they found roughly 3,500 dead fish in local waterways, including 12 different species. Mertz said this estimate was based on visual observations, and the confirmed sample was 2,938 aquatic species, which was slightly smaller than the initial estimate.

Wildlife investigators at ODNR then applied a science-based calculation to the sample number to determine the total number of dead aquatic species.

Reach Paige  pmbennett@gannett.com or on Twitter @paigembenn.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: East Palestine train derailment killed 40,000 fish

Buttigieg, standing near Ohio derailment site, says he could have spoken 'sooner'


Matt Freed/AP Photo

Kelly Garrity and Adam Wren
Thu, February 23, 2023 

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, standing mere yards from the site of a train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, said Thursday he could have spoken out “sooner” about the crash, which happened 20 days ago.

“I felt strongly about this and could have expressed that sooner,” Buttigieg said, describing the “twisted metal” that still remained at the site, which he had visited earlier Thursday morning.

“Again, I was taking pains to respect the role that I have, the role that I don't have — but that should not have stopped me from weighing in about how I felt about what was happening,” he continued. The derailment happened on Feb. 3, but Buttigieg’s first public comments did not come until 10 days later.

Buttigieg has faced a barrage of criticism, mostly from conservatives, for what they perceive as a slow response to the derailment, which resulted in toxic chemicals being released into the air and ground. Several Republicans say Buttigieg should have traveled to the crash site sooner, and some have even called for him to be fired or resign.

Former President Donald Trump joined in the barrage on Tuesday, calling out Buttigieg, President Joe Biden and the EPA after touring the site of the crash, a visit intended to jump-start his slow-moving 2024 presidential campaign.

“Buttigieg should’ve been here already,” Trump told reporters as he handed out MAGA hats after speaking alongside Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) and Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio). Trump also said Biden should “get over here.”

On Thursday, after meeting with the mayor, community members, DOT officials and first responders, including the fire chief in this deep-red village nestled in Columbiana County, Buttigieg indirectly addressed those comments in a wide-ranging 30-minute press conference. “And to any national political figure who has decided to get involved in the plight of East Palestine … I have a simple message, which is, I need your help,” Buttigieg said. “Because if you're serious about this, there is more that we could do to prevent more communities from going through this.”

Asked by POLITICO whether his perceived political ambitions had shaped reaction to his handling of the derailment, Buttigieg said, “I’m here for the work and not for the politics.”

But politics have been driving the narrative for over a week, with no signs of stopping. On Thursday, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, the top Republican on the Senate committee in charge of rail safety, said Buttigieg is “desperate to salvage his credibility” and used a preliminary factual report issued earlier that morning by federal investigators to suggest that his policy solutions are “shallow” and designed to heap blame on Trump.

The pressure has tested the normally mild-mannered former Indiana mayor, who got into a Twitter spat with Florida Sen. Marco Rubio Tuesday after the Republican called for him to resign or be fired. Buttigieg took more veiled shots on Thursday, saying “anyone in Congress who cares about these issues, they are welcome to come to the table and work with us to get things done. So anybody who is interested in that, I'm going to hold them to that.”

When asked Thursday by reporters whether he planned to resign, Buttigieg replied: “I’m not here for politics, I’m here to make sure the community can get what they need.”

The trip coincided with the release of the a preliminary report from National Transportation Safety Board, an independent agency, which found that the crew of the 150-car Norfolk Southern train received an alert about an axle overheating, and attempted to slow the train down before it derailed. The NTSB’s investigation will likely take 12 to 18 months before it determines what caused the derailment.

Despite the criticism, the White House has defended its response and the job Buttigieg has done, noting that officials from the EPA and the NTSB were on the ground within hours of the derailment. On Tuesday, EPA Administrator Michael Regan ordered Norfolk Southern to pay for the cleanup from the crash.

“The Norfolk Southern train derailment has upended the lives of East Palestine families, and EPA’s order will ensure the company is held accountable for jeopardizing the health and safety of this community,” Regan said in a statement Tuesday. “Let me be clear: Norfolk Southern will pay for cleaning up the mess they created and for the trauma they’ve inflicted on this community.”

On Thursday, Buttigieg promised the federal government would make sure that happened.

“We're gonna be here, day in, day out, year in, year out, making our railroads safer and making sure Norfolk Southern meets its responsibilities. That is a promise, and one I take very, very seriously,” Buttigieg said.

In the meantime, politicians — and the country — should be “wrapping their arms around the people of East Palestine,” Buttigieg said, “not as a political football, not as an ideological flashpoint, not as a 'gotcha moment,' but as thousands of human beings whose lives got upended ... through no fault of their own."

Trump’s environmental rollbacks in focus on visit to Ohio toxic train site

Guardian staff and agencies
Wed, February 22, 2023 

Photograph: Rebecca Droke/AFP/Getty Images

Donald Trump’s record of rolling back environmental protections was highlighted by critics on Wednesday as the ex-president visited the town of East Palestine, Ohio, and called the federal response to the toxic train derailment there earlier this month a “betrayal” .

Trump’s administration, which rolled back more than 100 environmental rules in total, watered down several regulations at the behest of the rail industry.

Related: ‘We just need answers’: distrust grows in Ohio town after toxic train derailment

He withdrew an Obama-era plan to require faster brakes on trains carrying highly flammable materials, shelved a rule that demanded at least two crew members on freight trains and dropped a ban on transporting liquified natural gas by rail, despite fears this could cause explosions.

“His trip serves as a reminder that Trump and his administration made gutting transportation and environmental safety regulations a key priority of their Maga agenda,” the Democratic National Committee said in an email to reporters.

Linking to a number of media reports of his transportation policies, it said, “Trump and his administration rolled back … transportation safety and environmental rules, including toxic chemical regulations,” and “Trump’s budget proposals slashed funding for investigating accidents, enforcing environmental rules, and prosecuting environmental crimes”.

“I don’t know exactly what he’s planning to do there, especially since his administration was anti-regulation and pro-industry every step of the way,” Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary, told CBS the day before Trump’s visit.

Buttigieg has been attacked by Republicans for failing so far to visit the site of the Ohio disaster, and the Department of Transportation said on Wednesday that he will visit the town on Thursday. The statement said: “As the secretary said, he would go when it is appropriate and wouldn’t detract from the emergency response efforts. The secretary is going now that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has said it is moving out of the emergency response phase and transitioning to the long-term remediation phase.”

The head of the National Transportation Safety Board – the lead agency investigating the crash – has said that the improved braking system wouldn’t have applied to the train that veered off its tracks in East Palestine, but environmental groups are pushing for the Biden administration to reinstate the rule anyway.

There has been pressure from some Republicans to review safety rules, with Mike DeWine, the Ohio governor, saying it is “absurd” that the train could be marked as non-hazardous because it wasn’t exclusively carrying toxic material. But many other GOP figures have so far shied away from calling for tighter regulation of the rail industry, instead focusing on what they say has been a ponderous response from the Biden administration.

Residents have expressed distrust at official statements that the water and air in the town is safe. In his visit on Wednesday, Trump, who is running for the White House again in 2024, said the community needs “answers and results”, not excuses. He spoke at a firehouse roughly half a mile from where more than three dozen freight cars – including 11 carrying hazardous materials – came off the tracks near the Pennsylvania state line.

“In too many cases, your goodness and perseverance were met with indifference and betrayal,” Trump said. He appeared with Senator JD Vance, Mayor Trent Conaway and other state and local leaders.

The former president and other Republicans have intensified criticism of the Biden administration’s handling of the 3 February derailment, which led to evacuations and fears of air and water contamination after a controlled burning of toxic chemicals aboard the rail cars.

The Biden White House has defended its response to the derailment, saying officials from the EPA, National Transportation Safety Board and other agencies were at the rural site within hours of the derailment. The White House says it has also offered federal assistance and that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has been coordinating with the state emergency operations center and other partners.

EPA administrator Michael Regan visited the site last week and earlier this week and tried to reassure skeptical residents of the town, which has a population of around 5,000, that the water was fit for drinking and the air safe to breathe.

“I’m asking they trust the government,” Regan said. “I know that’s hard. We know there’s a lack of trust.” Officials are “testing for everything that was on that train”, he said.

The Associated Press contributed reporting

Donald Trump, who rolled back rail safety regulations and slashed environmental protections, donates Trump-branded water to East Palestine residents

Erin Snodgrass
Wed, February 22, 2023 

Former President Donald Trump heads out of the East Palestine Fire Department next to his son, Donald Trump, Jr., as he visits the area in the aftermath of the Norfolk Southern train derailment Feb. 3 in East Palestine, Ohio, Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023. In the background is a pallet of personalized Trump water he donated.AP Photo/Matt FreedMore

Donald Trump visited East Palestine, Ohio, on Wednesday, following a disastrous train derailment.

The 2024 Republican candidate donated pallets of Trump-branded water to residents.

Trump's visit raised questions about his administration's rollback of rail safety regulations.

Donald Trump brought his 2024 presidential campaign to East Palestine, Ohio, on Wednesday, nearly three weeks after a cataclysmic train derailment prompted an environmental disaster in the small town following the release of toxic chemicals.

The former president's visit to the northeastern village preempted Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg's arrival by one day, and Trump relished every opportunity to castigate his Democratic successors, saying Buttigieg "should have already been here," and commanding President Joe Biden to "get over here," according to local reports.

While assuring East Palestine residents that they had "not been forgotten," Trump managed to tout his own presence in the besieged community and brush off questions about his administration's noted history of rolling back regulations on both rail safety and hazardous chemicals.

Trump started his day by briefly visiting with local leaders, according to WKBN-27, before conducting a small press conference at a fire station, where, donning his signature "Make America Great Again" hat, he handed out a flurry of red baseball caps to attendees.

During his speech, Trump pledged to donate thousands of bottles of cleaning supplies, as well as pallets of Trump-branded water bottles to members of the community, many of whom have expressed continued concern over the safety of the town's water supply following the derailment.

"You wanna get those Trump bottles, I think, more than anybody else," Trump said, while flanked by state and local leaders, including Republican Sen. JD Vance.



The former president dismissed questions about his administration's rollback of Obama-era rail safety regulations saying he "had nothing to do with it."

The Trump administration slashed several environmental and rail regulations while in office, most notably rescinding a 2015 proposal to require faster brakes on trains that were carrying highly flammable or hazardous materials.

The Norfolk Southern Railroad Company freight train involved in this month's crash was carrying vinyl chloride, a colorless gas and known carcinogen, which produced a plume of smoke over East Palestine.

The Department of Transportation under Trump justified the rollback with a 2018 analysis arguing the cost of requiring such brakes would be "significantly higher" than the expected benefits of the update.

A spokesperson for Trump did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Following his Wednesday news conference, Trump visited a local Ohio McDonald's where he handed out more MAGA hats and bought meals for firefighters.

Business Insider

Train crew had little warning before Ohio wreck, probe finds

JOHN SEEWER, MICHAEL RUBINKAM and GEOFF MULVIHILL
Thu, February 23, 2023

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio (AP) — The crew operating a freight train that derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, didn't get much warning before dozens of cars went off the tracks, and there is no indication that crew members did anything wrong, federal investigators said Thursday as they released a preliminary report into the fiery wreck that prompted a toxic chemical release and an evacuation.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg made his first visit to the crash site and took shots at former President Donald Trump, who had visited the day before and criticized the federal response to the train derailment. Their back-and-forth was the latest sign that the East Palestine wreck has become a hot-button political issue, prompting a rebuke from the head of the National Transportation Safety Board.

“Enough with the politics. I don’t understand why this has gotten so political,” safety board Chair Jennifer Homendy, clearly exasperated, said at a briefing in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. “This is a community that is suffering. This is not about politics. This is about addressing their needs, their concerns.”

The NTSB report, which laid out the facts that investigators have gathered to date, said crew members had no indication the train was in trouble until an alarm sounded just before it went off the tracks.

An engineer slowed and stopped the train after getting a “critical audible alarm message" that signaled an overheated axle, according to the report. The three-person crew then saw fire and smoke and alerted dispatch, the report said.

“We have no evidence that the crew did anything wrong,” said Homendy, who announced a rare investigatory field hearing to be conducted in East Palestine this spring as officials seek to get to the bottom of the derailment's cause and build consensus on how to prevent similar wrecks.

Investigators said the temperature of the failed wheel bearing increased by 215 degrees in a span of 30 miles (48 kilometers), but did not reach the temperature threshold that railroad company Norfolk Southern had set for an alarm to go off until just before the wreck.

The train was going about 47 mph (75 kph), under the speed limit of 50 mph (80 kph), according to investigators.

Outside experts who looked at the report said the system appeared to work as designed, from the spacing of the hot bearing detectors along the tracks to the operation of the sensors.

“There’s nothing in the NTSB report that surprises me at all,” said Dave Clarke, the former director of the Center for Transportation Research at the University of Tennessee. “I can’t see anything to really criticize about what happened or how the response was made.”

Christopher Barkan, director of the Rail Transportation and Engineering Center at the University of Illinois, said the spacing of the sensors that recorded the temperatures of the Norfolk Southern train — 10 and 20 miles (16 to 32 kilometers) apart — is common in the industry.

He said the detectors would not have notified the train crew of elevated bearing temperatures unless they met the threshold for action.

“I don’t see anything wrong here, but we just don’t know,” Barkan said.

Homendy said investigators would look at whether industry safety standards — including high-temperature alarm thresholds and sensor spacing — will need to change to prevent similar derailments.

Norfolk Southern said the NTSB report showed the heat detectors worked as intended and the train crew operated “within the company's rules." Nevertheless, the company said it would “need to learn as much as we can from this event” and “develop practices and invest in technologies that could help prevent an incident like this in the future.”

The freight cars that derailed on the East Palestine outskirts, near the Pennsylvania state line, included 11 carrying hazardous materials. Villagers evacuated as fears grew about a potential explosion of smoldering wreckage.

Officials seeking to avoid an uncontrolled blast intentionally released and burned toxic vinyl chloride from five rail cars, sending flames and black smoke into the sky. That left people questioning the potential health effects even as authorities maintained they were doing their best to protect people.

In another sign of the environmental impact, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources said Thursday it now estimates spilled contaminants affecting several miles of streams killed nearly 44,000 fish, mostly small ones such as minnows. Its initial estimate was 3,500.

As NTSB released its preliminary findings, Buttigieg — who had been criticized for not coming to East Palestine earlier — went on a tour of the crash site and defended the Biden administration's response to the Feb. 3 derailment, which Trump had portrayed as indifferent and a “betrayal."

Buttigieg told reporters that if the former president — and current Republican presidential candidate — felt strongly about increased rail safety efforts, “one thing he could do is express support for reversing the deregulation that happened on his watch.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre excoriated “political stunts that we’re seeing from the other side” but did not say whether a trip by Democratic President Joe Biden was in the works.

Another Biden administration official, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan, has been to East Palestine multiple times, most recently Tuesday as the EPA ordered Norfolk Southern to pay for the cleanup.

With heavy equipment rumbling behind him, Buttigieg slammed Norfolk Southern and other freight rail companies for fighting regulations he said would “hold them accountable and the other railroad companies accountable for their safety record." He pressed Congress to act.

Heather Bable, who lives two blocks from the derailment site, said she’s relieved the government’s top brass is finally showing up.

“We need that attention because we weren’t getting it. They should have been here all along,” said Bable.

After throngs of residents lined the streets in pouring rain to welcome Trump on Wednesday, the reception for Buttigieg was decidedly more muted, with little fanfare around the village of just under 5,000 residents. Trump won nearly 72% of the vote in this heavily Republican region in 2020.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, whose Pennsylvania district borders the derailment site, asked Norfolk Southern to expand the boundaries of the geographic zone in which it is providing financial assistance and testing. He asserted the current zone excludes many affected Pennsylvania residents and businesses, and said the company should commit to cleaning up soil and water up to 30 miles (48 kilometers) beyond it.

“Norfolk Southern is failing to show any commitment to rebuilding lost trust in our community,” Deluzio wrote in a letter to Norfolk Southern's CEO. Providing additional resources “would help your company restore the sense of security that the Norfolk Southern train derailment and its aftermath destroyed.”

___

Rubinkam reported from northeastern Pennsylvania and Mulvihill reported from Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Associated Press reporters Julie Carr Smyth and Patrick Orsagos in Columbus, Ohio, and Chris Megerian and Hope Yen in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.

NTSB calls Ohio train derailment '100% preventable,' says operators were warned of overheated axle

Greg Norman

FOX NEWS
Thu, February 23, 2023

The operators of the Norfolk Southern train involved in a toxic derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, earlier this month received a "critical audible alarm message instructing the crew to slow and stop the train to inspect a hot axle," according to a newly released National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report Thursday.

The preliminary report comes as NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said during a press conference that the Feb. 3 disaster "was 100% preventable."

"We call things accidents. There is no accident. Every single event that we investigate is preventable," she said. "So our hearts are with you know, that the NTSB has one goal and that is safety and ensuring that this never happens again."

The report said that after hearing a warning from the hot bearing detector on Train 32N, the train’s engineer, who Homendy said already was braking due to a train ahead, "increased the dynamic brake application to further slow and stop the train."

"The function of the HBD is to detect overheated bearings and provide audible real-time warnings to train crews," the report said.

"Train 32N passed three HBD systems on its trip before the derailment," adding that at the third system, it recorded "the suspect bearing's temperature at 253°F above ambient."

"After the train stopped, the crew observed fire and smoke and notified the Cleveland East dispatcher of a possible derailment. With dispatcher authorization, the crew applied handbrakes to the two railcars at the head of the train, uncoupled the head-end locomotives, and moved the locomotives about 1 mile from the uncoupled railcars," the NTSB wrote. "Responders arrived at the derailment site and began response efforts."

About 15,000 pounds of contaminated soil and 1.1 million gallons of contaminated water have been excavated from the site of the derailment, Norfolk Southern said Monday.

Dozens of rail cars, including 11 carrying toxic chemicals, derailed as the train passed through the town on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border. Officials conducted a controlled release of vinyl chloride three days after the derailment to avoid an explosion.

Homendy announced Thursday that the NTSB will hold a "rare investigative field hearing this spring in East Palestine" to gather more information on the incident.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg speaks with a U.S. DOT official at the site of the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment on Thursday.

"We don't have investigative hearings often. It is rare, but we will question invited witnesses," she said. "We have four goals for conducting an investigative field hearing: number one, inform the public. Number two, collect factual information from witnesses. Number three, discuss possible solutions. And number four, build consensus for change."

EAST PALESTINE MAYOR ASKS FOR ANNUAL COMMUNITY HEALTH CHECKS, SHARES CONCERNS ABOUT RASHES, LONG-TERM EFFECTS

In the report, the NTSB said at the "time of the accident, visibility conditions were dark and clear; the weather was 10°F with no precipitation."

Investigators wrote that the train had 149 railcars, 20 of which were "hazardous materials tank cars transporting combustible liquids, flammable liquids, and flammable gas, including vinyl chloride." A total of 38 cars derailed.

While the train's crew was decelerating after hearing the hot bearing detector warning, the train derailed while traveling at 47 mph and "an automatic emergency brake application initiated," causing the locomotive to come to a stop, NTSB investigators said.

Two days after the Feb. 3 derailment, responders extinguished the fire, but five cars carrying "115,580 gallons of vinyl chloride continued to concern authorities because the temperature inside one tank car was still rising," the NTSB said, leading to the controlled release.

Four of the cars containing the chemical were reported by the NTSB to be connected to each other, while the fifth was located in another part of the train.

"Responders scheduled a controlled venting of the five vinyl chloride tank cars to release and burn the vinyl chloride, expanded the evacuation zone to a 1-mile by 2-mile area, and dug ditches to contain released vinyl chloride liquid while it vaporized and burned," the report said.

"NTSB investigators identified and examined the first railcar to derail, the 23rd railcar," the report also said. "Surveillance video from a local residence showed what appeared to be a wheel bearing in the final stage of overheat failure moments before the derailment. The wheel bearing and affected wheel set have been collected as evidence and will be examined by the NTSB."

"The vinyl chloride tank car top fittings, including the relief valves, were also removed and examined by the NTSB on scene," the report added. "The top fittings will be shipped to Texas for testing under the direction of the NTSB."

This video screenshot released by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board shows the site of the derailed freight train in East Palestine, Ohio.

Investigators from the agency returned to the derailment site on Tuesday "to examine each [decontaminated] hazardous material tank car, document damage, and secure evidence for laboratory analysis."

"Future investigative activity will focus on the wheel set and bearing; tank car design and derailment damage; a review of the accident response, including the venting and burning of the vinyl chloride; railcar design and maintenance procedures and practices; NS use of wayside defect detectors; and NS railcar inspection practices," the report concluded.

Homendy also said Thursday that the NTSB "had no role in the decision-making or carrying out of the venting burn.

"The Federal Railroad Administration has guidance for how to conduct venting burns," she said. "So as part of our investigation, we will evaluate whether the vent and burn was carried out according to guidance and whether that guidance needs to be updated."

Fox News' Paul Best contributed to this report.

NTSB: Crew tried to stop train before East Palestine derailment

NTSB chair: East Palestine derailment was '100% preventable'

Christopher Wilson
·Senior Writer
Thu, February 23, 2023 

While not reaching a conclusive reason as to why a Norfolk Southern train derailed in Ohio earlier this month, the National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday morning that it was continuing to look at an overheated wheel bearing on the first car to go off the tracks.

In a preliminary report, the NTSB wrote that it had identified “a wheel bearing in the final stage of overheat failure moments before the derailment” on the 23rd car, the first to derail. The report said “hot bearing detectors” picked up a temperature 253 degrees above normal prior to the derailment. The train was traveling at 47 mph, just below the 50 mph speed limit.

Portions of a Norfolk Southern freight train that derailed the previous night in East Palestine, Ohio, still on fire on Feb. 4. (Gene J. Puskar/AP)

Sensors showed the bearing heating up for miles before the crash, but it spiked sharply immediately before the accident. The crew heeded the final warning and tried to stop the train for an inspection.

“After the train stopped, the crew observed fire and smoke and notified the Cleveland East dispatcher of a possible derailment,” read the report. “With dispatcher authorization, the crew applied handbrakes to the two railcars at the head of the train, uncoupled the head-end locomotives, and moved the locomotives about 1 mile from the uncoupled railcars. Responders arrived at the derailment site and began response efforts.”

The NTSB noted that security footage — previously reviewed by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette — showed that the train had been traveling with a “glowing axle” for at least 20 miles prior to the derailment near East Palestine, a town of about 4,700 people. The NTSB said it had collected the bearing and the affected wheel set for further examination.

Drone footage shows derailed train cars on Feb. 6. 

(NTSBGov/Handout via Reuters)

The Norfolk Southern train derailed minutes from the Ohio-Pennsylvania border on the evening of Feb. 3, with the governors of both states issuing a joint evacuation order for a roughly 1-mile radius. On Feb. 6, the railroad company burned off five tankers full of vinyl chloride in what it said was an effort to avoid a catastrophic explosion, resulting in the images of a giant toxic smoke plume that drew attention to the situation.

The NTSB said that going forward the investigation will focus on “the wheelset and bearing and tank car design and derailment damage” as well as a review of the accident response, including the “venting and burning of the vinyl chloride, railcar design and maintenance procedures and practices, [Norfolk Southern’s] use of wayside defect detectors and … railcar inspection practices.”

Norfolk Southern has been accused of prioritizing the reopening of the railway over handling the situation as safely as it could. The East Palestine accident is at least the fourth Norfolk Southern derailment in Ohio since the fall.

ProPublica reported Wednesday that the company has a policy that allows crews to “ignore alerts from train track sensors designed to flag potential mechanical problems,” including in one instance that preceded an October derailment in the state that was still not completely cleaned up as of earlier this month.

While local, state and federal officials have all assured residents the air and water there is safe, there have been continued reports of rashes, headaches and other ailments, in addition to the smell of chemicals in the air. Ohio officials have also said that more than 3,000 fish had died in the immediate aftermath of the accident, and residents have reported seeing sick or dead animals.

Trent Conaway, the mayor of East Palestine, leads a town hall meeting at a local high school on Feb. 15. (Gene J. Puskar/AP)

Experts told Stat News that the burning at the wreck site likely created dioxins, “a highly toxic, carcinogenic, and persistent compound released when polyvinyl chloride burns.” On Feb. 6, Norfolk Southern ordered a burn-off of chemicals at the site of the wreckage, which released more toxins into the air.

“I’m certain from the view of that black smoke plume [caused by a Feb. 6 burn-off] that it was a witch’s brew of chemicals on fire, and I’m quite certain dioxins would be among them,” Ted Schettler, science director at the environmental nonprofit Science and Environmental Health Network, told the outlet.

Former President Donald Trump visited East Palestine on Wednesday, bringing with him Trump-branded water and other supplies. Although footage on social media showed residents warmly greeting Trump, it’s his Department of Transportation that rolled back an Obama-era rule that required an upgrade in brakes for certain trains carrying flammable material.

That rule would not have prevented the East Palestine crash, because while the NTSB had urged the Obama administration to include more trains with dangerous cargo in its policy, the administration issued a less strict rule. When asked during his visit about criticisms that he had rolled back rail safety standards, Trump replied, “I had nothing to do with that,” despite repeatedly bragging about the number of regulations his administration had cut during his time in office.

Former President Donald Trump and his son Donald Trump Jr. at an event in East Palestine on Wednesday to address the recent derailment of a train carrying hazardous waste. (Alan Freed/Reuters)

While the Environmental Protection Agency and NTSB have been on the ground in the area since the accident, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg made his first visit on Thursday. Buttigieg, who did not comment on the crash until 10 days after the incident, has faced bipartisan criticism for his response to the derailment. He told CBS News on Tuesday that not speaking out sooner was a “lesson learned.”

“This morning I’m in East Palestine, Ohio, to see the site of the Norfolk Southern derailment, hear updates from investigators, and meet first responders,” Buttigieg tweeted early Thursday. “[The Department of Transportation] will continue its work to ensure safety and accountability.”

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, said President Biden was in touch with him in the aftermath of the crash and had offered whatever support the state needed. However, in a Monday interview with Fox News, East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway said Biden visiting Ukraine before East Palestine was “the biggest slap in the face that tells you right now he doesn’t care about us.”

Conaway said the following day that he would welcome Biden to his town and was very frustrated at the time he made the comments, but that he stood by them.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, flanked by other local, state and national leaders, at a news conference Tuesday to address the train derailment. (Alan Freed/Reuters)

The federal response grew more aggressive on Tuesday after EPA Administrator Michael Regan visited East Palestine late last week and vowed to hold the rail company responsible.

On Tuesday, the Transportation Department released a set of proposals meant to increase rail safety, while the EPA announced it was taking over the cleanup effort, meaning the organization would have to approve Norfolk Southern’s plans and could issue its own guidance if it isn’t satisfied. Additionally, a clinic operated by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Ohio Department of Health opened in town the same day.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, said this week that his state was investigating whether criminal charges against Norfolk Southern were warranted.

“We made a criminal referral to the office of attorney general. They’ll determine whether or not there was criminal activity,” he told NPR. "What I know is that Norfolk Southern is governed every day, not by caring about the communities that they send their trains through, but by corporate greed.”

Earlier warning might have spared Ohio a derailment, U.S. investigator says

Thu, February 23, 2023
By Julio Cesar Chavez and Brad Brooks

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio (Reuters) -A U.S. train derailment that spilled toxic chemicals in an Ohio town might have been avoided if the railway company's alarm system had given engineers an earlier warning that bearings were overheating, the chair of the National Transportation Safety Board said on Thursday with the release of a preliminary investigation.

"Had there been a detector earlier, that derailment may not have occurred," NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy told reporters in Washington. The incident prompted the evacuation of thousands of people and ignited health concerns.

While stressing a final report on the Feb. 3 derailment in East Palestine could be 18 months away, she said the NTSB could recommend that railroad companies lower the temperature thresholds that would trigger an alarm about overheated bearings.

Norfolk Southern Corp, the operator of the train, said in an emailed statement that its system to detect overheated bearings was operating normally in the area where the accident took place and said its warning system is among the most sensitive in the industry.

Norfolk Southern said it is cooperating fully with the NTSB.

The derailment has sparked a political battle and a blame game over railroad safety regulations, with residents voicing deep concern over the long-term health impact of the millions of pounds of carcinogenic chemicals spilled in their town.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg toured the wreckage on Thursday and took aim at freight rail companies over their responses to efforts to improve safety regulations.

Wearing a hard hat and orange safety vest while he met with NTSB staff, Buttigieg told reporters: "Norfolk Southern and the other freight rail companies need to stop fighting us every time we try to do a regulation."

Norfolk Southern's chief executive apologized on Wednesday at a CNN town hall event that highlighted residents' concerns about soil and ground water contamination.

Homendy said that in 2021 there were 868 derailments across the United States of freight cars in the same class as the Norfolk Southern train that wrecked, a number she said was far too high and the result of both the industry and government not implementing previous NTSB safety recommendations.

The rail industry had said 99.9% of all hazardous material shipments reached their destination without incident and the hazmat accident rate has declined by 55% since 2012.

In its preliminary report, the NTSB said the train engineer applied brakes as soon as an alarm rang on Feb. 3 to warn of an overheated axle on the Norfolk Southern train.

RARE HEARING SCHEDULED

The NTSB said "defect detectors" showed the axle and wheel bearing starting to heat up about 30 miles (48 kilometers) from the derailment site, but not to levels that would have triggered the audible alarm to warn the train engineer that far away.

Each individual railroad company determines its own temperature thresholds for when alarms are triggered.

Before the derailment, temperature measurements on the Norfolk Southern train's suspect wheel were doubling every 10 miles in the lead-up to the derailment, the NTSB said.

Norfolk Southern, in its statement on Thursday, said it is now inspecting all of the nearly 1,000 wayside heat detectors on its system, on top of regular inspections every 30 days.

The NTSB said it would hold a rare "investigative field hearing" near the derailment site in East Palestine and call witnesses. The board said all parties involved in the derailment were fully cooperating with its investigation.

Some rail safety requirements were withdrawn under Republican former President Donald Trump. Some Republican critics of the East Palestine response who previously opposed rail regulations have now expressed openness to new rules.

The Democratic Biden administration had been criticized for not having made a high-level visit sooner. Buttigieg on Thursday said he had not wanted to make an earlier visit that might have impeded the emergency response.

The NTSB also said it was investigating whether pressure relief valves on train cars carrying the toxic chemical vinyl chloride functioned properly following the wreck and subsequent fire.

Experts have said that if those valves had functioned properly, authorities may not have needed to drain upward of 1.1 million pounds of vinyl chloride from cars and purposefully set it ablaze, contaminating the environment.

President Joe Biden and his administration have said Norfolk Southern must pay for the damage and clean-up efforts. The EPA ordered company officials to attend town hall events after executives failed to attend an earlier meeting in East Palestine.

Russell Quimby, a retired NTSB investigator, said rail companies should monitor differences in temperature readings between the sensors spaced along a rail line, which could give an early warning that a bearing is failing, rather than wait for a bearing to hit a high temperature to sound an alarm.

"They start slow, but the longer it (the train) goes, the quicker they fail," Quimby told Reuters. "They stop heating up if they stop the train."

(Reporting by Julio-Cesar Chavez in East Palestine, Brad Brooks in Lubbock, Texas, Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles and Susan Heavey in Washington; Editing by Donna Bryson, Howard Goller and Leslie Adler)