It took Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg nearly three weeks to visit one of the largest industrial disasters in recent memory; however, look where he’s headed now.
Even when Pete finally showed up he stuck his foot in his mouth.
“What I tried to do was balance two things,” the 41-year-old Buttigieg told reporters during an awkward news conference. “My desire to be involved and engaged and on the ground, which is how I am generally wired to act, and my desire to follow the norm of transportation secretaries, allowing NTSB to really lead the initial stages of the public-facing work.
Southbound lanes of I-95 in Philadelphia being taken down. Engineers determined they’re beyond repair from tanker truck fire underneath. They didn’t collapse down like Northbound lanes did, but they sink down & can not be repaired to support the 160,000 daily vehicles using. pic.twitter.com/1GPweQ3TeX
— Steve Keeley (@KeeleyFox29) June 13, 2023
“I’ll do some thinking about whether I got that balance right,” added Buttigieg, who didn’t make any public statement on the disaster until Feb. 13. That’s 10 days after the train derailment.
East Palestine, Ohio was a Republican stronghold and it appeared that the Biden administration couldn’t be bothered with contaminated air, soil, and water.
However, in less than 72 hours look who is headed to Pennsylvania after a section of I-95 collapsed due to a tanker fire.
From WPVI:
Interstate 95 was shut down Sunday morning after a tanker truck fire erupted underneath an overpass in the city’s Tacony section, causing the northbound lanes to collapse.
But this is not the first time something like this has happened in Philadelphia.
Sunday’s fire broke out around 6 a.m. underneath I-95 near the Cottman Avenue exit.
Video from Chopper 6 showed the overpass carrying the northbound lanes of the highway were reduced to rubble. The southbound lanes are also compromised, officials said.
Buttigieg planned on a visit almost 72 hours after the mess.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Sunday morning’s I-95 collapse in Philadelphia: “I’m planning to go out tomorrow to get a look for myself” pic.twitter.com/z24IDTmkBI
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 12, 2023
Meanwhile, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said that it could take months for the section of the I-95 to be fixed.
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg visits I-95 collapse site https://t.co/SuyvGZXAKF via @phillytrib #I95
— Irv Randolph (@IrvRandolph) June 13, 2023
It’s amazing that it takes several months for a Democratic Governor to fix a portion of a destroyed highway but Florida can restore a bridge during a once-in-a-generation horrific hurricane in a week. Additionally, it took Georgia about three weeks to fix a portion of the critical 285 highway that perimeters around Atlanta after a similar fire.
