EAST PALESTINE — Vice President J.D. Vance, a vocal advocate as a U.S. senator for East Palestine after a massive Feb. 3, 2023, train derailment resulted in the release of toxic chemicals, will visit the village Monday on the two-year anniversary of the incident.

Vance, a Cincinnati Republican, will be joined Monday by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin as well as Ohio’s two senators — Republicans Bernie Moreno and Jon Husted — and U.S. Rep. Michael Rulli, R-Salem, who represents East Palestine.

Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican who’s also visited East Palestine a number of times since the derailment, also is expected to attend Monday’s event.

Vance was a frequent visitor to East Palestine in the months after the Norfolk Southern railroad disaster and a critic of the railroad company’s decision to have a controlled explosion of five rail cars full of toxic chemicals.

The derailment and controlled explosion caused the evacuation of thousands of residents of East Palestine and nearby communities.

Several residents have concerns about long-term health issues from the release of toxic chemicals into the air, soil and water.

Along with then-U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Cleveland Democrat, Vance introduced the Railway Safety Act of 2023 in response to the East Palestine derailment. The legislation died because not enough congressional Republicans supported the bill even with Vance’s support and the backing of Donald Trump.

Trump visited East Palestine on Feb. 22, 2023, 19 days after the derailment as he was running for president. Vance accompanied Trump, who is now president, on that visit.

Trump said at the time that the reaction from then-President Joe Biden, a Democrat, and his administration to the East Palestine derailment was “met with indifference and betrayal in some cases.”

Biden held off on a visit to East Palestine until Feb. 16, 2024 — more than a year after the derailment.

Moreno said Friday: “I couldn’t be prouder to visit East Palestine with Vice President Vance, and I look forward to working hand-in-hand with the Trump administration to ensure the Ohio residents whose lives were upended two years ago will have the support they need. While Joe Biden and Kamala Harris ignored the residents of East Palestine for months, President Trump and Vice President Vance have sent a clear signal from day one that fighting for working Americans in states like mine is a top priority for their administration.”

East Palestine earlier this week reached a $22 million settlement with Norfolk Southern. Before that, the railroad company committed $25 million to improvements to the East Palestine City Park and about $13.5 million in other payments to the village.

An appeal is holding up a $600 million federal class-action lawsuit settlement with those impacted by the derailment. The settlement offered payments of up to $70,000 per household for property damage and up to $25,000 per person for injuries to those who lived within two miles of the derailment. There were lesser payments for those who live within 20 miles of the derailment site.

Norfolk Southern said the East Palestine derailment is expected to cost it nearly $2.2 billion in total with about half of that related to legal costs and settlements, including the pending class-action suit. Insurance is expected to cover at least $751 million of that.

During a March 6, 2024, Senate Commerce Committee hearing, Vance questioned Jennifer Homendy, chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, about the controlled explosion with her saying Norfolk Southern contractors who made that recommendation “lacked the scientific background to address that” decision.

Vance said during that hearing: “There was not a ton of reason to do the burn and that, of course, is what spread toxic chemicals all over this community and the surrounding region. It’s really an extraordinary finding.”

Vance added: “When you have an unnecessary burn that poisoned a lot of people that then led to rapid transit of train traffic a lot of people, including me, are wondering: did they do this not because it was necessary, but because it allowed the to move traffic and freight more quickly?”

About 50 railroad cars, including 10 carrying hazardous materials, derailed Feb. 3, 2023, in East Palestine. Five of the cars, carrying vinyl chloride, were purposely blown up three days later releasing the toxic chemical into the air.

That was done at the recommendations of Specialized Professional Services Inc. and Specialized Response Solutions, two Norfolk Southern contractors.

The contractors said that not doing the controlled burn would have meant an uncontrolled explosion that could have spread toxic chemicals and shrapnel for miles.

Norfolk Southern has denied the charges that the controlled burn wasn’t necessary.

At the hearing, Homendy said the temperature in the rail cars was declining and the burn wasn’t needed.

Vance said: “So declining temperatures, you would think, and stabilizing temperatures are consistent not with something that needs to be exploded, but with something that can be dealt with in a slightly less catastrophic way, at least that’s my read on it.”

Vance said officials at the derailment site — such as DeWine and East Palestine fire Chief Keith Drabick — were told they had less than 13 minutes to decide “to blow up all five of those toxic chemical cars without any other voices being included to offer a contrary opinion.”