Ohio’s Chemical Disaster Rages On

Update (1300ET). During a press conference the NTSB referred to a Salem, Ohio video that shows sparks and flames emanating from underneath the train. It is approximately 20 miles from East Palestine. A security camera captured the apparent structural problem with the train as it traveled through Salem. Michael Graham, NTSB board member, said that the train had a structural issue. Two videos that they had taken were evidence of mechanical problems that could have been attributed to rail car axles, which may have led to the derailment.

A hotbox detector, which monitors the temperature of the wheels as they pass by, captured the second video from the train’s passage through Salem. Graham says that the crew was alerted of a problem by the wayside defect detector reading just before the East Palestine train derailment. This alert required the train to use an emergency brake application, possibly causing the derailment. NTSB currently examines audio recordings and data from the train in order to determine what caused the derailment. The NTSB expects to publish a preliminary report within 30 days.

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Submitted by BlueApples

The US government spends millions of dollars to treat balloons in an existential crisis. But a small Ohio town finds itself in the middle of what looks like the end of the world. Maybe by design, the drama surrounding the violations of US airspace and Chinese spy initiatives has helped to keep this environmental catastrophe from making the headlines.

The chaos began early last week when a train of more than 100 cars derailed in East Palestine, Ohio near the state’s border with Pennsylvania with roughly 5,000 residents. 50 of the 100 freight cars that were on the tracks were destroyed in the accident. Twenty freight cars carrying hazardous materials were on board the train, with ten of them being detailed. Although there were no fatalities in the accident, ten of those cars were detailed. Five contained pressurized vinyl chlorineide, which is a highly flammable carcinogenic agent gas.

The Ohio Emergency Management Agency devised a plan to vent the toxic gas using a controlled burn to avoid an explosion that could cause catastrophic damage. “Within the last two hours, a drastic temperature change has taken place in a rail car, and there is now the potential of a catastrophic tanker failure which could cause an explosion with the potential of deadly shrapnel traveling up to a mile,” Gov. Mike DeWine gave warnings in a statement explaining his decision to act to avoid widespread devastation.

The controlled burn continued for several days, sending large plumes filled with vinyl chloride and phosgene as well as hydrogen chloride into the air. The gas phosphate can cause severe respiratory problems and vomiting. Phosgene gas has such a high toxicity that it was used in the First World War as a chemical weapon.

NEW TOXINS IDENTIFIED—“We basically nuked a town with chemicals so we could get a railroad open,” said Sil Caggiano, a hazardous materials specialist. Norfolk Southern Rail Company is only paying $25k to the community, or $5 for each resident.🧵

HT a>=”https://twitter.com/therecount?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@therecount
pic.twitter.com/7jVQaIFA1U

— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) February 13, 2023

Officials issued mandatory evacuation orders and shelter-in place orders due to the hazardous airborne chemicals. Nearly 2,000 East Palestinian residents were forced from their homes by those orders. Over 500 residents within the evacuation area refused to leave their homes despite the danger to public safety near the crash site. These evacuation orders were lifted on February 8, allowing residents to return the area surrounding the disaster.

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After the controlled burning, authorities received many concerns from residents living outside the evacuation area for a mile. These reports indicated that the emergency posed was not over. Park Dairy, a local farmer, reported many sudden deaths of animals. Taylor Holzer, a farmer from Ohio, is also registered as a foxkeeper with Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Following the disbursement of chemical agents into the air from the controlled burn, many of the foxes on Holzer’s farm experienced fatal effects from the air quality surrounding the area.

“Out of nowhere, he [a fox] just started coughing really hard, just shut down,” Holzer was interviewed by WKBN 27 News. “This is not how a fox should act. He is very weak, limp. His eyes are very watery and weepy. Smoke and chemicals from the train, that’s the only thing that can cause it, because it doesn’t just happen out of nowhere,” He concluded.

“The chemicals that we’re being told are safe in the air, that’s definitely not safe for the animals…or people.”

Dead fish are being removed from rivers in Ohio, outside East Palestine.

EnviroScience, an Ohio-based firm that provides environmental services, labels the trucks. “time-sensitive solutions to environmental challenges.”

Join @CBKNEWS pic.twitter.com/yoZhZwxgEJ

— 🇺🇸Texas Tweetheart🇺🇸 (@MechelleChristy) February 13, 2023

#9 Dead fish coming from East Palestine, Ohio. pic.twitter.com/E7LdETovqJ

— kanekoa.substack.com (@KanekoaTheGreat) February 13, 2023

#7 Amanda Breshears found her dead chickens ten miles from East Palestine.

“As soon as they started the burn, my chickens slowed down and they died.”

“If it can do this to chickens in one night, imagine what it’s going to do to us in 20 years.”https://t.co/aPEzNkPupW pic.twitter.com/hy5umayYXU

— kanekoa.substack.com (@KanekoaTheGreat) February 13, 2023

Holzer’s concerns were echoed by reports from other residents who described similar conditions near their own properties. Katlyn Schwarzwaelder was one of those residents. She is the owner of Darlington’s dog kennel. The disaster forced her to flee her home, even though it was located more than 10 minutes away from the scene of the controlled burning. Schwarzwaelder fled to Boardman in Ohio, 15 miles from the accident site. There, she received numerous reports from acquaintances and friends about dead chickens and fish. Schwarzwaelder was informed by one victim that they allowed their 2-year-old dog to go to the toilet, but it didn’t return. The couple set out on a search to find their missing pet and found it dead in their backyard.

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Holzer, Schwarzwaelder, as well as other witnesses, paint a dramatically different picture to the official narrative. Officials assured residents that everything was under control. Poor air quality poses health risks for the public in the short- and long-term, especially when you consider the carcinogenic effects that chemicals have on the body. Carcinogens like vinyl chloride can cause cancer in organs including the liver, according to Kevin Crist, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering who also serves as the Director of Ohio University’s Air Quality Center.

Officials in charge of emergency response used dispersion modeling to reduce the risk of exposure to airborne chemicals. Other significant contamination risks are present in the chemicals released after the derailment. Chemicals were also released into the Ohio River in West Virginia. This prompted officials from West Virginia to stop water production in the region and seek out alternative sources of water supply. Officials are also concerned about soil contamination, which could have wider implications for public health than the ones associated with air pollution.

However, the magnitude of those risks hasn’t been apparently recognized by the leadership across various states affected by the disaster. According to Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, there was no concern about the water and air quality in the region. The governor did reiterate that the shelter-in-place order was still in place for Pennsylvanians living within two miles of East Palestine. The Environmental Protection Agency maintained a similar tone and stated that nothing unusual was observed following the controlled burning. James Justice from the EPA summarized his agency’s position by saying: “So far, so good and we’re going to continue to monitor until the fire’s out,”.

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While the immediate risks presented by a possible explosion following the train’s derailment may have been averted, the emergency response may become an instance of a cure being worse than the disease it seeks to remedy. These accidents also bring into question the safety regulations surrounding rail transports of hazardous freight. Eight train derailments in Pittsburgh have been reported within the past five years. This has prompted calls for greater oversight of the industry.

Despite the inherent danger of transporting chemicals such as vinyl chloride, the US Department of Transportation approved an expansion of the range of hazardous materials that can be transported by rail. This rule allows liquefied natural gases to be transported by train, without any additional safety regulations. This allows freight trains to transport 100 additional tank cards containing up to 30,000 gallons natural gas from shale field.

“The risks of catastrophic liquefied natural gas releases in accidents is too great not to have operational controls in place before large blocks of tank cars and unit trains proliferate,” The National Transportation Safety Board made a comment supporting the rule. Criticians of the rule pointed out how just 22 tank cards filled liquefied natural gases could explode and produce the same amount of explosive power as the Hiroshima atomic bomb in the final days of World War II.

This Ohio chemical release is very concerning, and it’s not being covered by the media.

Are all climate activists where are they? pic.twitter.com/ZVI2xfBuKG

— Hodgetwins (@hodgetwins) February 13, 2023

The ongoing crisis in East Palestine represents an environmental and humanitarian disaster that hasn’t been seen in the United States in recent memory. The scenes from East Palestine look as if they’re taken straight out of a horror film depicting nuclear winter.

I’m trying to gather information on this very serious situation in Ohio involving a train derailment with hazardous chemicals.

Here’s what I will say: Rely on your senses, your nose, your ears and your eyes.

— Erin Brockovich (@ErinBrockovich) February 11, 2023

Despite this, the story’s magnitude has been seemingly hidden from the public eye as national media outlets continue running sensationalist headlines on issues that seem innocuous. This is a classic example of history being rewritten, setting a precedent for victims of other widespread devastation not to be forgotten. However, the scenes of the horror engulfing this small town in America’s heartland may prove to make this disaster impossible to ignore, We are rightly highlighting the failings of federal agencies and states that are charged with emergency response management. This lack of accountability allows them fail the American public every time.

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