East Palestine, Ohio train derailment

I don’t know if Pro and Con might be a better spot for this thread. The story is so political as well as environmental.

In fact, my first post here is about the news coverage itself:

The Ohio Train Derailment Created a Perfect TikTok Storm

https://www.wired.com/story/east-palestine-ohio-train-derailment-tiktok/

My daughters have been sharing Tik-Toks with me and that has been my primary source of the story.

Here is Nick Drombosky’s original post, with some of the science facts
https://www.tiktok.com/@nickdrom/video/7197262870793473322

Here is a news update from local WTAE:

https://www.wtae.com/article/east-palestine-train-derailment-town-hall/42927847

I've been following it from a railroad perspective, but here's a couple of articles about the toxic chemical fears.

Ohio residents demand answers two weeks after toxic chemical train derailment (Guardian)

Ohio train crash leaves small town in fear of toxic fallout (BBC)

I haven't seen anything definitive yet on the cause of the accident, but some reports say they are looking at mechanical failure of wheels and axles, which suggest a bearing failure in an axle box. There's some discussion on whether, following staff cuts, maintenance inspections are as comprehensive as they should be, and also about the status of a trackside detector which is supposed to detect overheating axle boxes and alert the crew.

Air pollution in Ontario wafts up the Mississippi/Ohio R basins, so E Palestine, OH, being on the PA border, has s Ontarians the watching worried (as must be 2wonderY ?): https://globalnews.ca/news/9482709/ohio-train-chemical-explosion-east-palestine/

ETA:
Ohio derailed train chemical cloud ‘highly unlikely’ to impact Canada
Michelle Butterfield | February 15, 2023
https://globalnews.ca/news/9485842/ohio-train-derailment-chemical-spill-risk-lak...

Balloons and plumes--what next??

Rail workers highlight long-standing concerns about industry following Ohio derailment (13WHAM)

The train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio is putting the spotlight on an issue, railroad workers say they’ve been talking about for a while — bigger trains but not enough workers. Rail workers say the mantra in today’s world is to do more with less. They say across the country, the way rail systems operate right now is a danger to communities nationwide. Current and retired railroad workers alike are speaking out, putting a spotlight on a problem with the way the railroad system operates... “It’s very scary. We predicted stuff like this before. The precision-schedule railroading business model is a rush on car inspections. I mean, a car inspection used to be four, five minutes with a couple of carmen. Now they’re pushing for under 90 seconds per car"...

Chemical residue in creekbed

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CovdN7ngInj/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Clueless scrapyard owner wants tips on how to avoid fires in North Carolina. Three in a row.

https://www.wspa.com/news/local-news/adams-scrap-recycling-in-greenville-co-on-f...

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Co2sDDdDYMe/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

‘This is their mess’: U.S. orders rail company to pay for Ohio train spill cleanup (Global News)

The head of the U.S. government’s environmental agency said on Tuesday that rail operator Norfolk Southern must “pay for cleaning up the mess” created when a freight train derailment in Ohio released toxic chemicals into the environment. The comments by the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) were echoed by President Joe Biden later on Tuesday. “This is their mess. They should clean it up,” Biden said on Twitter. The EPA also ordered that Norfolk Southern officials attend town meetings about the Feb. 3 spill in East Palestine, Ohio. Last week company officials boycotted a meeting, citing concerns for their personal safety, leaving residents angered...

Eric Feigl-Ding @DrEricDing | 8:04 AM · Feb 23, 2023:
Epidemiologist & health economist. Fmr 16 yrs @Harvard. Faculty @NECSI & @TheWHN. Health alerts—http://nym.ag/3olszuo

Fox News finally admits the truth to its viewers— the Trump administration succumbed to @nscorp / railroad lobbyists to undo the Obama-era rules that would have required improved train brakes for hazardous materials.

HT @AdamParkhomenko #OhioTrainDisaster #EastPalenstineOH
https://twitter.com/AdamParkhomenko/status/1628741330741391363/video/1

From Adam Parkhomenko
0:34 ( https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1628742683979051008 )
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Eric Feigl-Ding @DrEricDing | 11:59 AM · Feb 16, 2023:
My god—“newly public document says potentially contaminated soil was not removed—a critical step (to be) completed quickly so that toxic materials are not further dispersed into the environment & groundwater”—EVERY TIME IT RAINS! #OhioTrainDisaster @nscorp

https://cnn.com/2023/02/15/us/ohio-train-derailment-east-palestine-residents/ind...

Text excerpt ( https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1626264979870547969/photo/1 )

Crew tried to stop Ohio train after alert about wheel bearing, safety report finds (Guardian)

The crew of the freight train carrying dangerous chemicals that derailed in Ohio earlier this month received a warning about an overheating wheel bearing and tried to slow the train before it came off the tracks, according to an interim report released on Thursday by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The wheel bearing was heating up for several miles before reaching 253F hotter than the air temperature, investigators found, a dangerous level requiring a train to stop to prevent disaster. The train engineer put the brakes on and the automatic braking system activated, the report said. But the train still derailed and was engulfed in a huge fireball, near the town of East Palestine, on 3 February...

Stephen Petty, chemical engineer, is collecting independent samples for analysis. Here’s a short creekside interview:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Co8_otuD00R/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Here is his profile, though nothing posted there yet:

https://instagram.com/pettypodcasts?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Here is Real News No Bullshit profile page, with multiple postings
https://instagram.com/realnewsnobullshit?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

“It wasn’t a controlled burn.”
https://www.instagram.com/reel/Co9AAvdDSnD/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

I heard a rumor about multiple birds dropping dead from the skies in Lexington KY, blamed on the EP spill, and tried to track it down.

2 weeks ago:
https://www.lex18.com/news/several-dead-birds-in-haltech-parking-lot-in-lexingto...

1 week ago:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2023/02/23/fact-check-kentucky-bir...

Also found this newsletter with a diverse set of straight news and conspiracy items:
The Gilmer Mirror

https://www.gilmermirror.com/2023/02/26/3-separate-oil-facilities-explode-in-24-...

US safety board investigates rail firm Norfolk Southern after Ohio derailment (Guardian)

The National Transportation Safety Board will look into five significant accidents involving the operator since December 2021... it will take a broad look at the railroad’s safety culture... Norfolk Southern... announced plans on Monday to improve the use of detectors placed along railroad tracks to spot overheating bearings and other problems in response to the derailment in Ohio last month. The NTSB has said the crew operating the train that derailed on 3 February outside East Palestine, Ohio, got a warning from such a detector but couldn’t stop the train before more than three dozen cars came off the tracks and caught fire...

Two trains derail in Washington and Arizona amid rising rail safety concerns (Guardian)

Two BNSF trains derailed in separate incidents in Arizona and Washington state on Thursday, with the latter spilling diesel fuel on tribal land along Puget Sound. There were no injuries reported. It was not clear what caused either derailment...

It's ironic really, as generally rail has been both the safest and most environmentally friendly mode of transport for both passengers and freight. Unfortunately the current obsession with short term financial gain at the expense of both safety and environmental costs is spoiling that reputation. Railways are being run by economists, not by engineers and railway professionals.

Another poisonous accident

Ohio River Disaster as Barge With Tons of Toxic Methanol Sinks

https://www.newsweek.com/ohio-river-disaster-barge-toxic-methanol-louisville-ken...

The Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet (EEC) said the barge carrying methanol in its three cargo holds was "lodged" in the lower McAlpine Dam—which was built along with a series of locks to allow boats to circumvent the Falls of the Ohio—and that the nearest municipal water intake was downstream in Henderson, Kentucky.
…
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), methanol is not only "highly flammable" and explosive, but is also toxic to humans in small amounts. The effects of methanol poisoning may not become apparent until 72 hours after being ingested, and can include blindness, vomiting, heart failure and death.

———-
So far they think the tanks have not been breached.

First on CNN: CDC team studying health impacts of Ohio train derailment fell ill during investigation
Brenda Goodman | March 31, 2023

... The investigators’ symptoms included sore throats, headaches, coughing and nausea – consistent with what some residents experienced after the February 3 train derailment that released a cocktail of hazardous chemicals into the air, water and soil.

The investigators who experienced symptoms were part of a team conducting a house-to-house survey in an area near the derailment, and they immediately reported their symptoms to federal safety officers.

“Symptoms resolved for most team members later the same afternoon, and everyone resumed work on survey data collection within 24 hours. Impacted team members have not reported ongoing health effects,” a CDC spokesperson said in the statement...

https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/31/health/ohio-train-derailment-cdc-team-symptoms/in...

Into the drink: train derails beside Montana river, tipping out cases of beer (Guardian)

A train derailment beside a scenic western Montana river has spilled powdered clay and huge amounts of beer, leaving crews with a daunting cleanup.The train derailed on Sunday across the river from Quinn’s Hot Springs Resort in Paradise, spilling cases of Coors Light and Blue Moon beer in cans and bottles, the Missoulian reported. No injuries have been reported. Cleanup crews could face a difficult task after a 25-car derailment left some cars off the tracks in a narrow, century-old tunnel with limited access, officials said...

Rail accidents including derailments have been trending downward in the US as the number of miles traveled by trains decreases. However, the rate of accidents per mile has been increasing, according to the Federal Railroad Administration. Railway unions contend rail transportation has become riskier in recent years after widespread job cuts.

"The size of the train that derailed in East Palestine, Ohio was 150 cars, more than twice the average length of trains operated by major railroads from 2008 to 2017." https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/03/us-rail-workers-east-palestine-o...

The True Dangers of Long Trains
Dan Schwartz and Topher Sanders, with additional reporting by Gabriel Sandoval and Danelle Morton, graphics by Haisam Hussein | April 3, 2023

...the Federal Railroad Administration, the agency in charge of train safety,... says it lacks enough evidence that long trains pose a particular risk. But ProPublica discovered it is a quandary of the agency’s own making: It doesn’t require companies to provide certain basic information after accidents — notably, the length of the train — that would allow it to assess once and for all the extent of the danger.

...Longer trains would become integral to the management philosophy ... dubbed precision scheduled railroading. The rail industry makes its money by the weight and distance of the freight it hauls. A long train makes in one trip what a short train would make in two or three or four, and with fewer employees. There was no need to design a new breed of super trains; these behemoths could be built from more of the same components: more cars with engines spliced into midsections to help move, and stop, more weight.

...America’s largest railroads...began making their trains longer and their staffing margins smaller; in 2015, companies started laying off what would become a fifth of the workforce at the largest railroads.

...ProPublica’s review of more than 600 investigative reports on train accidents over almost two decades found that the FRA had known of problems for years.

The reports revealed that some long trains were too big to fit into sidings off of main tracks that were often built to accommodate trains no longer than 1.4 miles, and passing trains were crashing into their rear ends.

...And long trains that were assembled with too much weight in the rear and too little up front were hurtling out of control and jumping off of tracks...Short trains can derail in the same way, but experts say longer trains can cause more damage when they fling dozens of cars and their contents through neighborhoods.

...most rail companies refused to hand over enough of their private train-length data to allow {FRA and GAO} investigators to make findings.

...the FRA told ProPublica it is starting the process of requiring companies to disclose the train length for every reportable accident, a move prompted by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. But there is no guarantee the regulators will succeed. The FRA said it first needs to publish a notice of the new data-collection effort and ultimately the Office of Management and Budget would need to approve the measure.

...Many states have passed laws that would punish railroads for blocking road crossings, but that power, state courts rule every time, rests solely with the federal government.

At any moment, Congress could intervene and limit the length of trains. If it did, independent experts say, there’d be more trains, moving faster with fewer breakdowns and derailments, and customer service would improve. But the rail companies, which move 40% of the country’s cargo, have a lot of leverage. For more than a century, the industry has convinced lawmakers that the success of America is tied to the success of the rails; it’s a view that persists today, sustained by the $10 million the Association of American Railroads spends some years lobbying Congress.

So long trains have continued jumping the tracks.

...in September 2020, the FRA launched a study examining the brake systems in long trains ... plans to complete the study this year. Also, late last year, it completed a small survey of rail workers, labor unions and railroad managers. Managers claimed long trains pose no new dangers, but government employees and labor unions said they are concerned.

The National Academies of Sciences, doing a separate assessment of trains longer than 1.4 miles at the request of Congress, must report its findings by June 2024.

https://www.propublica.org/article/train-derailment-long-trains

>18 margd:

Thanks for this. Free market capitalism in action, I'm afraid. Make more profit by running longer trains with fewer staff, at the expense of safety. The lack of transparency is also worrying.

A reminder posted

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CqENL21gVJZ/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Oops! Another train derailment. This one in Kentucky in the next county over from me:

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear declares state of emergency over train derailment, chemical spill

https://abcnews.go.com/US/kentucky-gov-andy-beshear-declares-state-emergency-tra...

Molten sulphur burning and giving off sulphur dioxide

https://www.lex18.com/news/emergency-management-leaders-share-update-on-rockcast...

The derailment occurred yesterday. This morning, they say the fire is 50% contained.

Another train derailment in Ohio. This time on the west side of the state and very close to family.

Officials pinpoint likely cause of styrene leak that caused evacuation near Cleves railyard

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2024/09/25/styrene-leak-near-cincinnati-up...

While the tanker has stopped venting styrene, a toxic and flammable chemical used to manufacture plastics, it’s still unsafe to return to the area and air quality is still being monitored, railroad and local officials said in a press conference Wednesday morning.

A half-mile evacuation zone remains in place alongside road closures. Hamilton County spokesperson Bridget Doherty said roughly 210 homes have been evacuated because of the chemical leak.

This time no railroad; just the plant and its environs

BioLab plant fire: Georgia residents evacuate as toxic smoke billows from chemical-fueled inferno

https://www.foxnews.com/us/biolab-plant-fire-georgia-residents-evacuate-toxic-sm...

Austin Masters illegally stored highly radioactive fracking waste along the Ohio River.
When they were caught, they claimed bankruptcy and absconded; leaving the mess for Ohio and the small communities.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DBcNWVjJaKK/?igsh=M3NlYncyMTlzbnpu