WATCH LIVE: Officials hold presser to address updates to toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio
A train carrying toxic chemicals derailed last month sparking a massive fire that covered the town in smoke.
President Biden still hasn’t visited East Palestine, Ohio, one month after saying he would visit the town impacted by the toxic chemical spill "at some point."
On March 2, almost a full month after the Feb. 3 train derailment that dumped toxic chemicals in the Ohio town, Biden said he would be heading to East Palestine sometime in the future.
BIDEN SAYS HE’LL VISIT EAST PALESTINE - BUT WON’T SAY WHEN
One month after saying he would visit East Palestine, President Biden still hasn’t made his way to the Ohio town affected by a train derailment and toxic chemical spill. (AP )
"As the president said, he will go to East Palestine," a White House official told Fox News Digital Friday. "Today he is in Rolling Fork, Mississippi, a community that has suffered immense loss: 13 lives tragically lost, homes destroyed, businesses leveled.
"We’re committed to helping this community recover just as we’re committed to continuing to support the people of East Palestine, where federal teams at the president’s direction remain on the ground to this day to support response efforts and hold Norfolk Southern accountable.
"The CDC has been going door to door to check in on families and has collected over 1,000 health surveys to date," the official added. "And the Department of Justice announced that it is suing Norfolk Southern to seek damages and hold them accountable."
The official said within "about two hours of Norfolk Southern notifying them of the derailment, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Transportation (DOT) sprang into action and were on the scene in East Palestine."
Ohio EPA and federal EPA contractors collect soil and air samples from the derailment site March 9, 2023, in East Palestine, Ohio. (Michael Swensen/Getty Images)
Additionally, the official said that with "the state in charge and the EPA leading the federal response, they quickly got to work holding the rail company accountable, containing the damage and monitoring for environmental impacts.
"President Biden reached out to governors (Mike) DeWine and (Josh) Shapiro soon after the train derailed to offer additional federal assistance, and his team has kept members of Congress and state and local leaders updated on response efforts throughout. The president has directed his team to ensure the states have everything they need for as long as they need it."
Biden made his pledge to visit East Palestine after mounting pressure to do so after the derailment and toxic chemical spill.
Standing alongside Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer after a closed-door meeting with Democrats on Capitol Hill Thursday, Biden was asked by reporters whether he will visit Ohio.
"I've spoken with every official in Ohio, Democrat and Republican, on a continuous basis, as in Pennsylvania," the president replied.
The Environmental Protection Agency has ordered states to stop rejecting waste shipments from East Palestine, Ohio. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, Zsuzsa Gyenes)
He said he "laid out" during his meeting with senators what he thinks "the answers are" to handling the train wreck, adding, "We will be implementing an awful lot to the legislation here."
That came in reference to a bipartisan bill introduced last month by Ohio's two U.S. senators aimed at improving rail safety protocols.
"And I will be out there at some point," Biden said without elaborating on a time frame.
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Following the spill, Biden reached out to Republican Ohio Governor Mike DeWine to offer federal assistance if needed.
"The president called me and said, ‘Anything you need.’ I have not called him back after that conversation," DeWine told reporters in February. "We will not hesitate to do that if we’re seeing a problem or anything, but I’m not seeing it."
Fox News Digital's Elizabeth Elkind contributed reporting.
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