Dozens of train cars operated by Norfolk Southern carrying toxic chemicals derailed from their tracks on February 5th, and more details about the impact of the accident continue to be unearthed by the day.
The potential environmental impact of this train derailment could be much greater than reports currently indicate.
Train derailments can have significant environmental impacts, especially when hazardous materials are involved. The train that derailed in East Palestine, Ohio last week was transporting a number of hazardous materials, including vinyl chloride, a colorless gas that is a carcinogen.
The Daily Wire reported the following today:
“Vinyl chloride is described by the National Cancer Institute as a carcinogen linked to a rare form of liver cancer called hepatic angiosarcoma, as well as lymphoma, leukemia, and various forms of brain and lung cancers. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration only permits exposure of one part per million during an industrial worker's eight-hour shift.”
The impact of the derailment and the release of chemicals could result in long-term environmental damage as well.
In 2018, the Trump administration repealed a 2015 rule requiring trains carrying hazardous materials to use electronically controlled pneumatic (ECP) brakes. The decision followed a congressionally mandated analysis by the Department of Transportation's Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). PHMSA concluded that the expected benefits didn't exceed the costs of equipping tank cars with high-tech brakes.
The Lever adds that the Biden administration has no plans to reinstate the Obama-era rule. Indeed, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is considering a proposal that may weaken safety rules. The revelation led the investigative journalism website to declare, “there will be more derailments.”
Last week's event generated several immediate response measures to mitigate the impact, mainly from Norfolk Southern — the company which owns and operates the derailed train.
One such measure taken by authorities was a “controlled vent and burn” of the chemicals spilled as a form of containment. Afterward, high levels of toxic smoke were detected in Youngstown, Ohio (population 60,000), which is over 20 miles away from the train's derailment site.
Authorities first instructed residents of East Palestine, Ohio, a town by the Ohio river on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border — to stay out of a one to two-mile radius of the accident for several days until homes in the area were deemed safe to return to.
Now, over a week later, neighboring states that sit on the Ohio River downstream from East Palestine are keeping their guard up.
Sheryl Long, City Manager of Cincinnati, Ohio stated that “Greater Cincinnati Water Works is monitoring the water quality in the Cincinnati area after the train derailment and release of toxic chemicals in East Palestine…Low levels of dangerous chemicals from the ones released in the derailment were detected in the Ohio River downstream of the incident” as reported by WLWT5.
The Ohio River borders West Virginia, where authorities are taking extra precautions, enhancing their water treatment protocols:
Fox News reports:
West Virginia American Water said Sunday that it was enhancing its water treatment process as a precaution following the derailment of a train hauling chemicals that later sent up a toxic plume in East Palestine, Ohio, which sits near the border to Pennsylvania. The water utility is also going to install a secondary intake on the Guyandotte River in case there is a need to switch to an alternate water source.
Additional claims are coming out daily about the impact of the chemicals, including adverse effects on wildlife.
The New York Post reported Friday that animals ranging from foxes to chickens have been falling sick on farms near the train derailment site. Fish have been reported dead in nearby waterways.
Preventive measures, such as regular inspections and maintenance of trains and tracks, and the development of better spill response plans, can also help to reduce the frequency and severity of train derailments and their associated environmental impacts.
As reported by Yahoo News, Norfolk Southern previously lobbied for looser regulations:
Norfolk Southern has a history of lobbying against safety regulations. The publicly traded company, which has a market value of $55 billion, fought the Federal Railroad Administration's push to upgrade the “Civil War era” brake system that remains widely used in American trains, and against stricter rules on the transport of hazardous materials.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, CBS News affiliate KDKA had also reported that the derailed Norfolk Southern train was seen sparking 20 miles before it derailed. The National Transportation Safety Board in Washington, D.C., is investigating claims of an alert or alarm being raised about the condition of the train and “expected to release its preliminary findings within 30 days.”
Yet questions and concerns persist.
One reporter was recently arrested at a press conference about the evacuation orders.
Environmental regulators say they'll continue to monitor the air and water around East Palestine. They say air quality remains safe and drinking water supplies haven't been affected.
Meanwhile, some residents are starting to complain about headaches and nausea.
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Quite unsettling at a time when we know we are being lied to about .. everything.
Have you people seen the videos of what happened? It’s a total destruction of water, animals and fish. Acid rain, people with no food or water. Buttigieg is a damn liar. No Red cross, no government departments checking on anything.. Railroad companies don’t care. They will blame everyone else but themselves. This what you get when you vote idiots into office. They only care what comes to their bank accounts.
But I don’t think biden was voted in he was put in so soros obama could carry out their plain to destroy America with millionaires billionaires paying for it to be done same as Michigan not many voted for the criminals here they put themselves in we must stop all mail in voting only military paper ballots picture ID hand count
Since people aren’t dying fast enough from the jab it sounds like the Biden Administration is upping the ante.
You’re under arrest. For what? Not listening to thug police “officers”. Who says (besides the dumb gubment) that they are right and Mr. Lambert is wrong. The thug police once again in action.
At least Dudley Dowrong is on the job?
Sue these companies that refuse to use safety precautions that are known to be much safer and the government from not forcing these trains that carry dangerous goods or People need to be sued
Now does everyone see why it was a totally moronic idea to get rid of the caboose for the sake of PROFIT. The little blinking light on the knuckle of the last freight car cannot look over the train in a curve to identify defects such as sticking brakes and hotboxes. Not all rolling stock have roller bearings. Only the human eye can detect such defects, ie., a Conductor and Flagman. Norfolk Southern must be held accountable for all the damage to the environment for years to come including the death and debilitation of both human and animal species. Norfolk Southern is a self-insured entity. They must be made to compensate ALL injuries for years to come.
It makes one wonder why we do not use the more safer pipelines other than Warren Buffet owns most of the railroads which is why the Keystone KL Pipeline was killed by Biden on his first day in his stolen office.
Just have to wonder how such a worthless half-fast know-nothing was selected to be installed in a position that requires the wit to manage tasks more complicated than emptying a trash bin. The office of Secretary of Transportation should have a written test to determine whether the appointee can, for instance, exit from a doorless toilet stall un-assisted. Seems present circumstances — the Ohio derailment and the horrific response — have answered that question emphatically in the negative.
This is where cover-ups start !! By blocking any information that they believe you don’t need to know !!
Show up and call out all officials related to this and keep the pressure on them !!