EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — Vice President JD Vance said his return to the village of East Palestine on the second anniversary of the explosive train derailment was about more than just showing up.

“I think showing up is important, but there is action behind it,” he said in an interview with the Washington Examiner after a roundtable with local stakeholders, first responders and community businessowners.

“So when people say we want to rebuild here, we also want to have confidence long term that it’s safe and environmentally sound. Well, the only way you can do that is by actually sending people like the (Environmental Protection Agency) continuously to finish the cleanup, to do the testing, and not just do it for a year or two years but to do it for the next 10 to 15 years,” said Vance.

Vance said during his press conference inside the garage of the East Palestine Fire Department that people have to be confident that “they can build a business here, that they can raise a family here. That’s going to take the long-term commitment of the Environmental Protection Agency but also the whole administration. And that’s certainly something that people here can expect.”

For emphasis on that priority, he introduced them to new EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, who was attending his first stop in the role.

“I know how much of a priority this is for Vice President Vance. And because it is such a priority for him, I will make sure that for the EPA, it is our highest priority day in, day out to do everything in our power to make sure this is completed as quickly as possible,” Zeldin told the crowd.

Vance told the Examiner that it is important that the people in the village have faith that they can rebuild their town’s sense of stability and know the administration will have their back along the way.

“That is what I think is a core part of giving people confidence they can really rebuild, is that it’s safe, that the air is clean, that the water’s clean, and so forth,” he said.

He pointed to the work of local leaders like Trent Conaway, the village’s mayor, as people who lead by example with grit and grace.

Conaway, along with the village’s fire chief, Keith Drabick, Zeldin, Gov. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio), and Sens. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) and Jon Husted (R-Ohio), joined Vance and the village’s firefighters for the day’s events.

“So, yeah, I think showing up is important. But you show up to say, ‘Look, we’re going to do the things necessary environmentally to give you confidence you can actually rebuild this town,'” Vance said.

“And that is the biggest thing. I mean, you talk about heart, right? So we did the roundtable beforehand, and every single business to a person said, ‘We have lost a lot of revenue compared to where we were two years ago. We know the town is economically struggling,’ but to a person, they all said, ‘We don’t want to move. This is our home,'” Vance explained.