There was a massive train derailment in Ohio, which led to a massive release of a number of dangerous chemicals, one of which was 100,000 gallons of vinyl chloride. Then authorities decided to burn the chemicals and arrest journalists covering the disaster. Then there was a media blackout and broader censorship of people covering the disaster and the coverup.
On February 3rd, a train owned by Norfolk Southern freight derailed in East Palestine, Ohio carrying toxic chemicals that spilled into the ground and water. It was later decided by authorities they would burn these chemicals.
Rail workers were just stopped from striking by congress for some of the very issues that caused the derailment. The problems highlighted in this video. About “the corporate practice of precision schedule….shorter staff longer hours longer trains less safety, less maintenance”
People and politicians from across the political spectrum are asking why the train derailment and subsequent burning of chemicals from the train are not getting more coverage in the corporate press.
Reports of die offs of domestic and wild animals are coming out from the area. Journalists have been arrested, and many fear that people are being censored more broadly for reporting on the disaster.
Some say authorities lighting the chemicals ablaze are effectively Chernobyling Ohio with toxic chemicals and there’s a news blackout and the police are dragging journalists away.
The Sunday morning news shows didn’t mention the unfolding disaster in East Palestine Ohio. Corporate news stations have refused to cover the political backstory.
Thousands of gallons of carcinogenic vinyl chloride has spilled and burned in Ohio from a 50-train car derailment.
Now there is a giant cloud of polyvinyl chloride and tons of other harmful chemicals.
Some are saying this may be one of the largest ecological disasters in US history.
There were roughly 100,000 gallons or 1,000,000 pounds of vinyl chloride leaked. Vinyl Chloride is a synthetic chemical used to fabricate PVC. If people are exposed to the hazardous chemical, it can have a detrimental effect on the central nervous system. According to the CDC, “Vinyl chloride can irritate the eyes, mucous membranes, and respiratory tract. Escaping compressed gas or liquid can cause frostbite or irritation of the skin and eyes,” and “Chronic exposure can cause permanent liver injury and liver cancer, neurologic or behavioral symptoms, and changes to the skin and bones of the hand.”
Rail workers have seen increasingly shrinking workers rights, with executives preferring profits over safety or giving workers benefits like more than one day a year of paid time off. Rail workers have to work more hours with inadequate pay. The practice of precision scheduled railroading (PSR) has made derailment disasters an inevitability. Under the corporate practice, trains are loaded with more cars or freights making the trains longer and heavier, the trains go at a fast speed, safety inspections are shorter and less thorough, and the trains are staffed with less rail workers who work longer hours than usual. Derailments are a consequence of the profit motive for the practice of precision scheduled railroading.
A faulty bearing may have caused the derailment, according to one rail worker. Maintenance and inspections are less thorough in the corporate practice of PSR. “The wheels are falling off the train basically,” according to a rail worker.
According to perfectunion, “Norfolk Southern let a worker take the fall, rather than a single corporate executive showing up in the town that they polluted to be held accountable. You see, Wall Street owns Norfolk Southern. 74% of shares are owned by a who’s who of infamous hedge funds and this is the business model that they demand—profit at any cost—and disaster like this is simply a cost of doing business. They cut everything, make all the money and pay off disasters in tiny flyover towns from the profit. But instead of answering for any of that, they’re betting that the corporate media, under the same pressure for extreme profit as railroads, will only ask questions about how much cancer people will get and not why this preventable disaster happened.”
Photo by The National Guard is licensed under CC BY 2.0