More than a year after a train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in rural Ohio, forcing thousands of residents to flee, Joe Biden finally arrived in the village of East Palestine on Friday afternoon.
He stayed for barely two hours, before leaving to spend the holiday weekend at his beachside home.
Locals made their feelings clear about the delayed visit. His motorcade ran a gauntlet of banners proclaiming, ‘Too Little, Too Late,’ and the streets were lined with people shouting, ‘F*** you.’
They were furious that the president waited a year to see the impact of the crash, and believe he is only coming now because of November’s election.
Some were Trump supporters. Some had travelled from out of town.
Protesters expressed their anger as Biden’s motorcade rolled into East Palestine
President Joe Biden visited East Palestine on Friday afternoon to see for himself the site of last years derailment that sent toxic chemicals spilling through the Ohio village
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But others were families whose homes back on to the railroad and the scene of the disaster. They held signs saying: ‘Help. Our kids are still sick.’
They want financial help from his administration to help them move away, rebuilding their lives far from any lingering risk.
Life turned upside down when the 150-car freight train carrying toxic chemicals derailed. Among its load were 700,000 pounds of vinyl chloride, a carcinogen used to produce pipes, furniture and other plastic goods.
Emergency workers took the decision to use a ‘controlled burn’ to avert the danger of a huge explosion. Instead it sent up a thick, black plume of smoke.
Biden arrived after meeting first responders across the state line in Pennsylvania.
In East Palestine he was shown the site of the disaster and then delivered a speech promising that help would stay for as long as it was needed.
He reserved particular anger for Norfolk Southern, whose train derailed.
‘There are acts of God,’ he said. ‘This was an act of greed that was 100 percent preventable.’
The visit took him deep into Trump country, a county won by the former president with more than 70 percent of the votes cast in 2020.
Biden said none of that mattered.
‘What matters is we’re all Americans, everyone, everyone, we look out for one another,’ he said. ‘We leave no-one behind.’
He spoke for seven minutes. And his whole visit to the village, including a visit to a candle shop, lasted barely two hours before his motorcade started the return journey to Pittsburgh airport, where Air Force One was waiting to take him for a weekend at his beach home in Delaware.
Before arriving in East Palestine, Biden met with first responders who tackled the disaster at Darlington Municipal Complex, just across the state line in Pennsylvania
After delivering his speech, Biden visited 1820 Candle Co. in the center of the village
He sipped coffee made from the local tap water in a show of confidence for cleanup efforts
Trump supporters began assembling before 9am to wait for the president’s visit
Jess Conard, a mother-of-three who has become an activist during the past year, was one of four locals who had a private meeting with the president.
We can’t continue to dwell on he should have been here sooner,’ she said. ‘We can’t dwell on, you know, why hasn’t this already happened?
‘What we can do is learn from it and move forward.’
And she said she was hugely encouraged by the way the president promised to use federal support to fill in the
‘He recognized there was unmet need, and one of those things is the medical help,’s he said.
Chris Solis, 58, who drove the hour from Pittsburgh to make take part in the protest, accused Biden of making a ‘token’ appearance.
‘East Palestine has been neglected and that been a trademark of his administration,’ he said.
‘He speaks in demeaning and patronizing tones to ordinary people.’
The White House defended the timing.
‘The president has always said when the time is right and when it made sense for him to go, he would go,’ his Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. ‘And so, that’s what he’s doing.’
Mike Young, rally organizer, said Trump supporters travelled from all around to join the protest
‘ East Palestine has been neglected and that been a trademark of his administration,’ said Chris Solis, who was on Main Street as part of the protest against Biden’s visit
Federal authorities insist they have taken action to ensure that the environment and homes are safe.
The Environmental Protection Agency says it removed more than 176,000 tons of hazardous waste. More than 49 million gallons of water, rainfall and snowmelt were removed or treated.
Norfolk Southern, the railroad operating the freight train which derailed on Feb. 3 last year, said it has spent roughly $1.1 billion in its response.
That wasn’t enough to stop Trump supporters rallying on Main Street, just across from the mayor’s office, accusing the Biden’s administration of letting down the people of East Palestine.
They flew flags saying, ‘Even my dogs hate Biden,’ and held banners demanding that the president be jailed.
Mike Young, who organized the protest, said: ‘It’s not enough. These people are hurting down here. They’re scared. I think they’re afraid.
‘They don’t want to move into their homes.’
Ferguson’s parents moved into the home in 1970. Today it is empty like the neighboring houses
A large plume of smoke rises over East Palestine, Ohio, last year after a controlled detonation of a portion of a derailed Norfolk Southern train to burn off hazardous chemicals
And they lined Biden’s route into the village. One man raised his middle fingers in salute as the president passed, and others chanted: ‘F*** Joe Biden.’
Trump supporters pointed to the former president’s visit last year, less than three weeks after the derailment, as evidence of his support for economically marginalized communities.
And plenty of residents agree that more has to be done to get their community back on their feet. But the protest irked many who said they were tired of being a political backdrop.
A customer at Sprinklz diner next door to the protest said: ‘A lot of them aren’t even from East Palestine.’
Staff fought a running battle to keep expletive filled signs from the front of their store.
Krissy Ferguson, a 49-year-old mother, said she hoped for a chance to meet biden. And she told DailyMail.com on Thursday that she could never return to her home and needed help to move away.
‘I can’t live here anymore,’ she said, her eyes welling with tears. ‘It’s not safe.’
Residents have been repeatedly told their homes are safe, yet the Environmental Protection Agency has put signs around creeks and water sources warning people to stay away
Community activists sent a letter to Biden demanding he issue a major disaster declaration, provide long-term health monitoring and care, and offer relocation funding for those like Ferguson who want to leave.
One of the authors, Jess Conard, said it was time to set politics aside and work with Biden to help the community.
‘We are Americans, and he is our leader,’ she said. ‘And I think that that’s a really important distinction, no matter which side of the line you’re on.
‘President Biden is coming to my community, because he recognises that there is a need to do that.’