Biden is about to visit East Palestine, but is he a year late?

A year after a fiery train derailment spilled thousands of gallons of toxic chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio, President Biden will travel there Friday and face a politically divided community concerned about the long-term health consequences of an environmental disaster.

Mr. Biden, who promised to visit shortly after the disaster, was criticized by Republicans and some residents for not going sooner. In a sign of how politically charged the situation has become, Trump supporters planned a rally to coincide with Mr. Biden's visit.

“The city is still very divided,” said Misti Allison, a 35-year-old resident of East Palestine, a small town in a conservative state. She said some people hoped Biden's visit would bring the relief many people wanted, such as health screenings well into the future.

“Some people say it's too little too late,” she said. “You should have been here in February of last year, not February of this year.”

Mr. Biden is expected to deliver remarks on Friday detailing his administration's efforts to help the people of eastern Palestine, as well as outlining measures to hold accountable Norfolk Southern, the operator of the freight train transporting the toxic chemicals call.

The White House has said the administration has sent a steady stream of federal resources to the community and deployed hundreds of people to assess risks in the days after the spill. Some community members, many of whom have said they are suffering from health problems, say Mr. Biden should issue a disaster declaration, which would allow the state to tap even more federal resources.

Norfolk Southern said it had spent more than $800 million on cleanup costs, legal fees and community outreach. Tens of thousands of tons of contaminated solid waste and millions of gallons of sewage have been shipped from eastern Palestine, the Environmental Protection Agency said. Ohio declared its drinking water safe just weeks after the crash.

“The president is not concerned about drinking water in East Palestine,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during Thursday's daily briefing. “The EPA is confident that the drinking water is safe.” Ms. Jean-Pierre was responding to a reporter who said President Barack Obama drank filtered water in Flint, Michigan, in 2016 after a lead contamination crisis in the city.

The train was carrying more than 350,000 pounds of vinyl chloride, a carcinogen used to make pipes, furniture and packaging, when it derailed. Rescuers set fire to the chemicals in a so-called controlled burn to prevent a wider explosion.

Presidential visits to devastated communities typically offer Democrats and Republicans the opportunity to ignore their clashes and focus on showing empathy. Local leaders have often praised Mr. Biden on such occasions.

But Mr. Biden, who ran for president on a promise to unite the nation, is expected to encounter a community on Friday that is a microcosm of a politically divided nation.

Even East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway's invitation to Mr. Biden for a visit carried a whiff of division. Mr. Conaway has also criticized Mr. Biden for allowing former President Donald J. Trump to visit the community of about 5,000 people before him. Mr. Trump called Mr. Biden's appearance at such a late date “an insult.”

Mike Young, who lives about 45 minutes from East Palestine and is organizing the pro-Trump rally, said he believed Mr. Biden's visit was motivated by politics.

“You're coming during an election year,” he said.

Timothea Deeter, a community organizer at River Valley Organizing, an environmental justice nonprofit in Ohio, said she was “a little happy” but also a “little wary” that Mr. Biden was visiting.

“If he comes and takes a bunch of pictures and uses it as a photo op, that's not OK,” Ms Deeter said. “That doesn't get us the help we need. But if he will come to our aid and respond seriously to this disaster, I want him to do so.”

The White House has said the visit is intended to transcend politics.

“You will see a president,” said Ms. Jean-Pierre, who “will go there – whether it is a red state, a blue state, urban America, rural America – to hear and make sure that he is a president for everyone is.”

But politics can be inescapable. Even as pro-Trump demonstrators gather on one side, others plan to hold a protest demanding Mr. Biden bring additional aid to the community. And some residents worry that a year after a wave of politicians turned their town into a powerhouse, it will happen again.

“We are getting tired,” said Jami Wallace, who founded the East Palestine Train Derailment Unity Council to monitor the community's response and concerns. “We have the same unanswered questions and the same needs as a year ago, but the only difference is that now we are losing hope.”