Bannon’s WarRoom
As of Thursday night, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has yet to declare the Norfolk Southern train derailment a disaster, Star News Network CEO and Editor in Chief Michael Patrick Leahy said in an interview on Stephen K. Bannon’s WarRoom.
Leahy said, “There is a process whereby a governor declares a disaster – either a natural disaster from a hurricane or just a ordinary disaster that’s something that’s non-weather related – and he’s got to declare it; it goes to FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency], and they either accept it or reject it.
“He’s not declared a disaster yet even though Senator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, wrote [Gov DeWine] a letter this morning that said ‘you really should declare this a disaster.'”
Leahy noted DeWine spokesman Dan Tierney’s statement that the governor said not enough aid was forthcoming from FEMA, but, “You have to declare a disaster first. He’s resisted that.”
The derailment took place on February 3rd. Governor DeWine, Leahy said, should have declared a disaster and asked for FEMA relief the next day, February 4th. The “vent and burn” of the vinyl chloride took place two days later on February 6th.
While the reasons for the delay to declare a disaster and the individuals from various agencies making the decisions – and upon what analysis those decision were made – remain unknown to the public, Leahy speculated as to why Governor DeWine’s office has not moved forward with the declaration.
The Star News Network editor-in-chief said he suspected “there is a document that should exist, signed by the on-site EPA coordinator that should be dated February 6th which says they recommend the controlled burn. I think that document may not exist.”
Watch the full interview:
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