“We have heard way too many stories from generations past of infrastructure where you got a neighborhood, often a neighborhood of color, that finally sees the project come to them, but everyone in the hard hats on that project, doing the good paying jobs, don’t look like they came from anywhere near the neighborhood,” Buttigieg said Monday at the National Association of Counties Conference.The transportation secretary made no mention of the Feb. 3 derailment of a Norfolk Southern train in East Palestine, Ohio, which has forced authorities to release toxic chemicals such as phosgene and vinyl chloride to avoid an explosion and get the tracks operable.

“I continue to be concerned about the impacts of the Feb 3 train derailment near East Palestine, OH, and the effects on families in the ten days since their lives were upended through no fault of their own. It’s important that families have access to useful & accurate information”