EAST PALESTINE, Ohio – EPA Director Michael Regan on Tuesday said he wouldn’t let his children play in the East Palestine’s dirt, creeks, or streams that contain rainbow colored chemical residues from a Feb. 3 train derailment as he vowed to hold the Norfolk Southern railroad company responsible for cleanup.

In his third trip to the Pennsylvania border community, Regan said clean up continues at a “rapid pace,” and his agency is awaiting a longer-term work plan from Norfolk Southern that will outline “every single necessary step” to clean up the environmental damage caused by the derailment.

“No detail will be overlooked,” pledged Regan. “This work will be done that leaves this community whole again and the work plan will be finalized in the coming days. ... For now, we will continue to work day by day to earn the trust of this community and reassure this community that when the cameras leave, we will still be here, however long it takes.”

The Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern derailment spilled toxic chemicals such as vinyl chloride, butyl acrylate, ethylhexyl acrylate, and ethylene glycol monobutyl ether. Federal and state officials, fearing the vinyl chloride tanks would explode, set them afire, creating a massive plume of thick black smoke. Other chemicals seeped into local streams, killing fish and traveling down into the Ohio River. Some residents evacuated and have been living in hotels until they’re convinced their homes are safe.

Federal and state officials have repeatedly said it’s safe for evacuated residents to return to the area. They say air testing in the town and inside hundreds of homes hasn’t detected any concerning levels of contaminants. The state says the local municipal drinking water system is safe, and bottled water is available while testing is conducted for those with private wells.

Regan’s visit marked the opening of a new community welcome Center at 25 N. Market St. where members of the East Palestine community can drop in to meet with staff from EPA and other federal agencies and learn about support services.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has also visited the derailment area, as have both of Ohio’s U.S. Senators, former President Donald Trump and environmental activist Erin Brockovich. U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, a Cincinnati Republican, and U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson, a Marietta Republican who represents East Palestine, have called on President Joe Biden to visit.

“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 home,” Johnson said at a press conference Tuesday with House Republican leaders.

Johnson also announced that the House Energy & Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Environment, Manufacturing, and Critical Materials, which he chairs, will hold a hearing on the EPA’s response to the derailment on March 28, 2023. He said the committee will have a field hearing in East Palestine, at some point, but said its residents want to focus on the clean-up for now.

“The last thing they want is a circus of politicians coming there to get what they determine to be a photo op,” said Johnson, without explaining whether the Biden visit he requested would constitute that sort of circus.

Biden said Friday that he’s had “a long meeting” with his team on the East Palestine derailment and has no plans to visit.

“We were there two hours after the train went down. I’ve spoken with every single major figure in both in Pennsylvania and in Ohio,” Biden told reporters. “The idea that we’re not engaged is just simply not there. ... I’m keeping very close tabs on it. We’re doing all we can.”

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday that he wants Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw to answer questions from the U.S. Senate about the derailment as soon as possible.

Schumer described the accident as “100% preventable,” and asked why the railroad spent “years pushing the federal government, and particularly the Trump administration, to repeal safety regulations intended to prevent accidents similar to the one in East Palestine.”

Schumer also questioned why the railroad laid off thousands of workers while reporting over $3 billion in 2022 profits and launched a $10 billion stock buyback program last year when they could have used the money “to upgrade safety equipment, hire more workers or pay employees better wages.”

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, a West Virginia Republican, said multiple Senate committees are planning hearings on the issue. She described response to the disaster as “miserable to watch,” faulting federal agencies for providing East Palestine residents with conflicting information.

“This just can’t stand,” said Capito. “A catastrophe in a small, small, area such as this has such deep implications and long living implications, has to have a better response all up and down the line.”

Speaking in East Palestine, Regan said EPA and other federal agencies are “working very hard” to clean up all pollution from the spill.

“While the pollution is present, as a father I would not advise anybody, adult or child, play in the creeks and streams,” he continued. “What we’ve said is the drinking water has been tested. If that drinking water has been tested and a green light has been given, then we feel confident in that. But while we’re cleaning up this disaster site, I wouldn’t advise that anyone play in water that’s contaminated or soil that’s contaminated. This is an ongoing effort to efficiently and effectively clean up the mess that Norfolk Southern caused.”

He said his agency is testing for the byproducts and potential adverse health effects of every substance that was on the train.

“There are no gaps in the testing,” he said, adding that his agency is there to have conversations with people about their concerns and to work to alleviate them.

In addition to providing air and water testing, he said the federal government is providing internal and external cleaning services for local residences and businesses who are worried about potential chemical residues.

None of the air and water tests done so far have shown any adverse health impacts, said Regan, promising his agency will be “laser focused” on cleanup and continuing to protect the public from any adverse impact from the derailment.

He urged anyone who is experiencing adverse health impacts to consult their local physicians and the local health department, and to inform the federal government as well, so “we can connect all these dots.”

He stressed that the federal government is holding Norfolk Southern accountable for clean-up, and said that if it fails to comply with actions ordered by EPA, the agency will step in and do the needed work and force Norfolk Southern to pay triple EPA’s costs to do the work. “

“In no way, shape, form or fashion will Norfolk Southern get off the hook for the mess that they’ve created,” said Regan.