Texas GOP Rep Travels to East Palestine, Ohio, Drinks ‘Public Water’ in Effort to Reassure the Public

A House Republican is seeking to reassure residents of East Palestine, 🇺🇸Ohio, the public drinking water is safe after a train derailment.

Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas), the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials, posted a video to Twitter on Thursday of him speaking in the town.

“Hello, folks. Here I am. I’m in Palestine, in 🇺🇸Ohio, here with the train derailment,” he began. “ had great meetings with Norfolk Southern, had an opportunity to speak with the mayor, EPA officials.”

The congressman went on, “The air quality is fine right now. And the water, the drinking water, within this municipality is safe to drink.

“They have a water treatment facility. They’ve tested the water. There are no issues with the public water in the city. I’m here in front of this little cafe I had and them pull a little water out of their tapper, and I’m going to drink it,” he added.

Watch the video below:

Nehls noted, “The fire chief — everybody says the water is clean to drink in the municipality. Drink the water. If you have a private well, if you don’t have city utilities, you have a private well, they are recommending that you drink bottled water while they are testing your individual well.”

“But as it relates to public water here in the city of East Palestine, the little community here, it’s safe to drink,” he added.

Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio