It appears the Biden administration owes former President Donald Trump an apology, although it’s doubtful he’ll ever get it.
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden’s team attacked Trump for easing regulations concerning brakes on trains put in place by his predecessor, former President Barack Obama.
Andrew Bates, President Joe Biden’s deputy press secretary, told reporters, “Congressional Republicans laid the groundwork for the Trump Administration to tear up requirements for more effective train brakes.”
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On Thursday, though, the National Transportation Safety Board released its preliminary findings of the catastrophic Norfolk Southern freight train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.
According to the NTSB, one of the tanker cars carrying the toxic chemicals suffered an overheated wheel bearing, causing its axle to become destabilized. In all, 38 cars, including 11 that carried hazardous materials, jumped the tracks.
As the NTSB report noted, a censor detected the failing axle and alerted the crew. “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 NTSB said.
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The engineer slowed the train, and an automatic braking system kicked in. The train was rolling below the permitted speed limit for that section of the track.
But that was not enough.
NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy told reporters there was no indication the train’s crew did anything wrong.
It seems the blame might be the distance between the censors that triggered the warning about the potential wheel-bearing failure.
The NTSB report noted that one censor indicated the bearing was well below the threshold for mandating the crew to stop the train. The train traveled 20 miles before reaching the next censor which did alert the engineer a problem existed.
As The Hill reported on Thursday, “Advocates of stricter rail safety regulations have specifically highlighted the Trump administration’s delay of a 2015 rule that would have required trains to be equipped with more modern pneumatic brakes.”
Yet, Biden’s own Transportation Department “has said the rule would not have prevented the East Palestine disaster.”
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Biden actually owes two apologies.
One to Trump for allowing his administration to fan the flames of hate, contempt, and blame with no actual evidence Trump did anything wrong.
He also needs to apologize to the residents of East Palestine for his administration’s actions, which were incredibly slow-footed and lackadaisical, and then, as one observer said, for his administration actually “nuking” the town by purposefully setting fire to the cars with toxic chemicals.
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