Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg faced sharp criticism after he appeared to cast some of the blame for the Ohio train derailment onto former President Donald Trump because the Department of Transportation (DOT) under the former president nixed an Obama-era regulation on advanced train brake systems.
The derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 3 of a freight train carrying hazardous chemicals sparked a blaze, releasing toxins into the air and forcing evacuations.
Buttigieg’s office did not address the incident for days, with the Transportation secretary breaking his silence on Feb. 14, saying he was “concerned about the impacts” of the derailment, which also led to contaminants entering the Ohio River, killing several thousand fish.
“We’re constrained by law on some areas of rail regulation (like the braking rule withdrawn by the Trump administration in 2018 because of a law passed by Congress in 2015), but we are using the powers we do have to keep people safe,” Buttigieg said in a tweet.
The Transport Secretary’s tweet drew a flurry of reactions on social media, many critical.
ECP Rule
As part of Trump’s cutting regulations that he said slowed the economy, the DOT in 2018 withdrew an Obama-era rule that was opposed by railroads requiring trains carrying certain hazardous chemicals to use ECP brakes.The association argued that the safety modeling was “deemed so faulty and unreliable that it does not permit any conclusive determination concerning the safety benefits of ECP brakes.”
The railroads also argued that there are problems with ECP brakes, that the technology is “unreliable and extremely difficult and time-consuming to troubleshoot,” with the equipment degrading when not used and with “significant problems” including battery drain, corrosion of connectors, and patchy communication.
‘Greatest Safety Advancement’
John Risch, former national legislative director for the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers, has argued that ECP brakes are the “greatest safety advancement I have seen in my 40 years in the railroad industry.”Risch, who opposed rescinding the rule in 2018, said that the ECP brakes have a key safety benefit over conventional brakes in that they can stop a train automatically when air pressure on a train car drops below a certain level.
Buttigieg addressed the 2018 ECP brake rule repeal in a series of tweets on Wednesday.
“In the wake of the East Palestine derailment and its impact on hundreds of residents, we’re seeing lots of newfound or renewed (and welcome) interest in our work on rail safety, so I wanted to share more about what we’ve been doing in this area,” Buttigieg wrote.
After listing measures the DOT has taken on the safety front, Buttigieg called out the elimination of the brake system rule under Trump.
“We’re constrained by law on some areas of rail regulation (like the braking rule withdrawn by the Trump administration in 2018 because of a law passed by Congress in 2015), but we are using the powers we do have to keep people safe,” Buttigieg said.
“And of course, I’m always ready to work with Congress on furthering (or in some cases, restoring) our capacity to address rail safety issues,” he added.
The spokesperson added that the two agencies will, pending the results of the investigation, “evaluate action to prevent this from happening again.”
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating the East Palestine derailment.