President Joe Biden visited East Palestine Friday afternoon, just one year after the Norfolk Southern train derailment.
Biden received an operational briefing from officials in East Palestine at about 4:20 p.m. and at 4:45 p.m., he delivered remarks on what his administration is doing to hold train company Norfolk Southern accountable for the disaster.
Watch the president speak below:
"Let me be clear – while there are acts of god, this was an act of greed that was 100% preventable. Let me say it again – an act of greed that was preventable," Biden said. "We were pushing railroads to take more precautions, to deal with a whole range of things that were not dealt with. Norfolk Southern failed this responsibility."
He also discussed the commitment to ensuring the people of East Palestine are not defined by this event.
Additionally, he touched base on how his administration is delivering on the needs of families, businesses, and affected residents.
Biden announced that he would award six National Institutes of Health grants to the best research universities in the U.S.
One of the grants will go to Case Western Reserve University. The grant will go toward studying the short and long-term impacts of the derailment.
Air Force One landed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at about 2:30 p.m., and from there, Biden departed for East Palestine.
Watch the video of the president's arrival below:
East Palestine's downtown has been taken over by people in protest of Biden's arrival. Protestors are lining the streets, yelling expletives and holding explicit banners.
Some even traveled from out of state for the protest.
Many people said Biden should have been in East Palestine a year ago when the derailment occurred.
“Somebody’s president obviously not East Palestine’s because the train wreck because the train wreck was a year ago,” Marcy Ford said.
Others welcomed Biden and said they hope he brings help to the area.
Watch more here:
People at the protest expressed concerns over things like their businesses and families in East Palestine.
“I couldn’t sell my hay this year because nobody wanted to buy hay from a farm in East Palestine," Ford said.
Village Manager Chad Edwards said he has a message for Biden and anyone who watched him come to East Palestine on Friday.
“Don’t forget about us," Edwards said. "This town’s been through a lot and, you know, we’ve got a long ways to go.”
Norfolk Southern released the following statement:
From the beginning, we promised to make it right in East Palestine. With major site remediation completed and the investment of more than $104 million in the East Palestine community, we’re keeping our promises. We’ll continue to partner with elected officials, residents, and local leaders to keep making measurable progress and on our shared focus to help East Palestine thrive for the long term.
RELATED: 'People in this town needed him,' President Biden's visit is too late, says East Palestine community
