By Andrew Hay
(Reuters) - The head of the U.S Environmental Protection Agency postponed a trip to Africa to visit the site of an Ohio train derailment and toxic spill for a third time on Tuesday after Republicans criticized the Biden administration's response to the incident.
EPA Administrator Michael Regan met with concerned residents of East Palestine to reassure them testing showed water was safe to drink and the air safe to breathe after the Feb. 3 derailment which led to a controlled burn of chemicals aboard rail cars.
"I recognize there has been a deficit of trust," Regan told reporters as he opened an EPA outreach office in a red-brick storefront in the town of 4,700. "We are going to be laser-focused on the cleanup and to continue to protect the public from any kind of harm."
Former U.S. President Donald Trump and other Republicans have criticized the Biden administration's handling of the derailment, Trump blasting Biden for visiting Ukraine and Poland rather than meeting with residents of East Palestine.
The Biden administration in turn slammed Trump and other Republicans for slackening rail safety and environmental protections measures when they were in government.
Regan, who postponed a trip to West Africa to make Tuesday's Ohio visit, said officials from his agency were at the rural site within hours of the derailment and federal agencies would stay in the area, which voted overwhelmingly for Trump in 2020, for as long as it took to bounce back from the disaster.
He reiterated that the government was holding rail company Norfolk Southern, the operator of the train, accountable for the disaster which caused temporary evacuations in East Palestine.
(Reporting by Andrew Hay in New Mexico; Additional reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Donna Bryson and Richard Chang)
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