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Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) on Thursday called on Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) to declare a disaster following the derailment in East Palestine of a train containing several cars of hazardous chemicals.
In a letter, Brown praised DeWine’s handling of the incident but called for a formal declaration from the governor’s office to allow the state to request federal aid in the cleanup process.
“A man-made disaster of this scale, scope, and significance necessitates a response and deployment of resources that are commensurate in scale and scope,” Brown wrote. “I’m grateful for all that the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Ohio Emergency Management Agency, local fire fighters, and local law enforcement have done to respond to this unprecedented disaster, but it’s critical we act quickly to supplement those efforts.
