Voters Don’t Trust Government on Ohio Train Disaster

Most voters give the federal government low ratings for its response to this month’s train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that only 30% of Likely U.S. Voters rate the government’s response to the Ohio train derailment as good or excellent. Forty-six percent give the government a poor rating for handling the disaster. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

After the February 3 derailment of a Norfolk Southern freight train released the toxic chemical vinyl chloride, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said tests “show no water quality concerns” in East Palestine. However, only 23% of voters say that they would feel safe drinking the water If they lived near the site where the train derailed, including just nine percent (9%) who would feel Very Safe drinking the water there. Seventy-one percent (71%) would not feel safe drinking the water near East Palestine, including 47% who say they’d feel Not At All Safe.

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The survey of 1,000 U.S. Likely Voters was conducted on February 21-23, 2023 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Distrust of the EPA’s water-quality assurances in East Palestine crosses political categories, although more Republicans (59%) than Democrats (37%) or voters not affiliated with either major party (47%) say they would feel Not At All Safe drinking the water near the Ohio train derailment site.

Eighty-two percent (82%) of voters have closely followed news reports about the train derailment in Ohio, including 49% who say they’ve followed the news Very Closely. Fifty-two percent (52%) of Republicans, 47% of Democrats and 48% of unaffiliated voters have followed news about the Ohio train derailment Very Closely.

While 44% of Democrats rate the federal government’s response to the East Palestine train derailment as good or excellent, only 15% of Republicans and 28% of unaffiliated voters share that opinion. Sixty-three percent (63%) of Republicans, 27% of Democrats and 48% of unaffiliated voters give the government a poor rating for its response to the derailment.

More men (30%) than women voters (16%) say they would feel at least somewhat safe drinking the water near East Palestine. Men (34%) are also more likely than women voters (25%) to give the federal government a good or excellent rating for its response to the Ohio train derailment.

Forty-eight percent (48%) of whites, 37% of black voters and 50% of other minorities say they would feel Not At All Safe drinking the water near the Ohio train derailment site. Black voters are least likely to give the federal government a poor rating for its response to the derailment.

While 33% of voters under 40 say they would feel at least somewhat safe drinking the water near East Palestine, only 18% of those ages 40-64 and 20% of voters 65 and older share that confidence. Voters under 40 are also significantly less likely to rate the federal government’s response to the Ohio train derailment as poor.

Breaking down the electorate by income categories, 48% of voters earning above $200,000 a year say they’d feel at least somewhat safe drinking the water near East Palestine, compared to just 12% of those with annual incomes below $30,000. Voters earning between $30,000 and $50,000 a year are more likely to give the government a poor rating for its response to the Ohio train derailment.

President Joe Biden’s strongest supporters are most likely to accept the EPA’s claims about water quality near the train crash site. Among voters who Strongly Approve of Biden’s job performance as president, 50% would feel at least somewhat safe drinking the water near East Palestine. By contrast, among voters who Strongly Disapprove of Biden’s performance, only six percent (6%) say they’d feel at least somewhat safe drinking the water near the derailment site, and 75% would feel Not At All Safe.

A year after Russia’s invasion, nearly half of American voters see the war in Ukraine as a stalemate.

After announcing her 2024 presidential campaign, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley leads Biden in a hypothetical matchup, but badly trails former President Donald Trump among GOP voters.

Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to Platinum Members only.

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