U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg emphasized to Yahoo! Finance Live the large number of train derailments in this country while the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, has gotten the most "attention."
Buttigieg continues to face backlash after he was slow to discuss the train derailment causing toxic chemicals to pollute the East Palestine and the surrounding region. He finally addressed the disaster on Monday night, 10 days after the train crashed.
Buttigieg was asked by Yahoo! Finance about what the Transportation Department is doing.
"Look, rail safety is something that has evolved a lot over the years, but there's clearly more that needs to be done because while this horrible situation has gotten a particularly high amount of attention, there are roughly 1,000 cases a year of a train derailing," he said.
He added further, "Obviously, they have levels of severity, but where all of that points us to is a need to continue to raise the bar on rail safety. And that's especially true when it comes to rail that involves hazardous materials."
He commented that this more salient example of a derailment happened despite major regulations already on the books.
"Now this train was subject to certain enhanced requirements because of hazardous materials on board. But obviously, none of that prevented what happened in East Palestine," he said. "It's one of the reasons we're going to be paying very close attention to the findings that NTSB comes back with."
He went on to describe a major question he faces in his role as Transportation Secretary.
"Basically, the question that needs to be asked here is, with all of the regulation, with all of the supplemental regulations that apply to a hazardous cargo like vinyl chloride, how is it that this happened anyway? And what can be done to make sure it doesn't happen?" he asked.
This came less than 24 hours after Buttigieg blamed the Trump administration for his agency being "constrained by law on some areas of rail regulation."
Buttigieg has faced intense scrutiny for his performance in this role from both sides of politics.
Earlier this week, public figures on Twitter condemned him for his silence on the derailment as he called for more diversity in construction.
Buttigieg had already been criticized over chaos at airlines over the Holiday Season, as thousands of flights were canceled due to systemic malfunctions, leaving people stranded far from home.
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Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee chairwoman Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., declared at a recent hearing, "This sector needs a more effective policeman on the beat. They need someone over at the Department of Transportation who is going to get the job done."
