{"id":607676,"date":"2023-02-13T14:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-13T20:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.sellorbuyhomefast.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/13\/toxic-train-derailment-in-east-palestine-oh-highlights-issues-facing-americas-railways\/"},"modified":"2023-02-13T14:30:00","modified_gmt":"2023-02-13T20:30:00","slug":"toxic-train-derailment-in-east-palestine-oh-highlights-issues-facing-americas-railways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/13\/toxic-train-derailment-in-east-palestine-oh-highlights-issues-facing-americas-railways\/","title":{"rendered":"Toxic train derailment in East Palestine, OH highlights issues facing America\u2019s railways"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Nearly 5,000 area residents were told to evacuate or face imminent health hazards.\n<\/p>\n

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\n By
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\n Andrew Paul<\/a>
\n |
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\"Smoke<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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On February 3<\/a>, a Norfolk Southern freight train carrying toxic and hazardous materials derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. Although no injuries and fatalities have yet been reported, the crisis prompted evacuation requests<\/a> for the nearly 5,000 residents of the East Palestine area and renewed widespread criticism of the American rail industry\u2019s questionable safety regulations<\/a>, strained workforce<\/a>, and crumbling infrastructure<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Early reports place the blame<\/a> on a broken axle, although further details appear to complicate the 50-car derailment. After the axle malfunctioned, onboard engineers pulled an emergency brake<\/a>, but the brake also failed. Now, critics have shown a lengthy paper trail<\/a> indicating Norfolk Southern\u2019s persistent lobbying against safety reforms, alongside resistance to updating its trains\u2019 brakes.<\/p>\n

[Related: BP made $28 billion last year, and now it\u2019s backtracking on its climate goals<\/a>.]<\/strong><\/p>\n

Because of the cascading failures, emergency responders faced a potentially deadly situation. Toxic chemicals including vinyl chloride gas\u2014used in making a variety of commonplace plastic products such as PVC piping and credit cards\u2014filled 10 of the derailed freight cars and could have exploded, according to authorities<\/a>. This could have sent shrapnel flying as far as a mile from the site. Officials ultimately decided<\/a> on a controlled burn of the gas by funneling the vinyl chloride into a nearby trench that was then ignited, sending phosgene and hydrogen chloride to disperse in the air. Phosgene gas, which causes vomiting and respiratory issues, was used in chemical warfare<\/a> during World War I and has been linked<\/a> to emphysema and chronic bronchitis. On Sunday, it was confirmed that three additional dangerous chemicals<\/a> were released following the crash, including the carcinogen ethylhexyl acrylate.<\/p>\n

Although government officials cleared<\/a> residents to return home, many are wary to do so<\/a>. Some have even filed a federal lawsuit<\/a> which would compel Norfolk Southern to set up routine health screenings for anyone living within a 30-mile radius of the crash.<\/p>\n

[Related:\u00a0Fossil fuels are causing a buildup of human health problems<\/a>.]<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

David Masur, Executive Director of the PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center, called the East Palestine incident<\/a> \u201ca stark reminder of the threat posed to our cities, towns and communities from trains carrying explosive materials across Pennsylvania and the United States every day.\u201d Masur and others<\/a> are calling upon state and federal officials to instate greater inspection levels and oversight within the rail industry. \u201cIdeally, freight companies should have to re-route trains carrying hazardous material away from populated areas,\u201d says Masur, adding that, \u201cif they continue driving current routes, the public and first responders have a right to know about trains coming through their communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last week, Norfolk Southern announced it would collectively pay<\/a> 5,000 area residents $25,000, or roughly $5 per person. The railway company generated $12.7 billion<\/a> in operating revenue during 2022\u2014its most profitable year to date.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\"Andrew\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n Andrew Paul<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nearly 5,000 area residents were told to evacuate or face imminent health hazards. By Andrew Paul | Published Feb 13, 2023 3:30 PM EST On February 3, a Norfolk Southern freight train carrying toxic and hazardous materials derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. Although no injuries and fatalities have yet been reported, the crisis prompted evacuation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":607677,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[534,4858,24647],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-607676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-financial","category-toxic","category-train"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=607676"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607676\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/607677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=607676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=607676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=607676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}