Derailed train in Ohio & giant cloud of polyvinyl chloride

[platinumsage]

I've seen a tonne of comments from Americans, on Twitter, saying things like, "why haven't I heard about this?" so I think its safe to say that its not really getting the coverage you would expect it to.

Twitter again. Most Americans haven't heard of PVC, or Europe.

 

[Storm Fox]

At least one journalist has been arrested and detained for 5 hours:

Reporter arrested during news event on Ohio train derailment

A reporter was pushed to the ground, handcuffed and arrested for trespassing while covering a news conference about the derailment of a train carrying toxic chemicals in Ohio. NewsNation posted video of its correspondent Evan Lambert being arrested Wednesday in East Palestine where Gov. Mike...

www.wesa.fm

 

[platinumsage]

It's the only story Fox News currently has for Ohio. Some cover-up:

 

[SpookyFrank]

Looks like a lot of local wells and springs - and I'd concerned about that.

Entirely possible groundwater wouldn't be affected.

 

[Indeliblelink]

Rail Companies Blocked Safety Rules Before Ohio Derailment

Norfolk Southern helped convince government officials to repeal brake rules — and corporate lobbyists watered down hazmat safety regs.

www.levernews.com

Ohio catastrophe is ‘wake-up call’ to dangers of deadly train derailments

The next derailment ‘could be cataclysmic’ if action isn’t taken after the incident near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border, says expert

www.theguardian.com

 

[existentialist]

Yeah it says "suffer not conspiarloons as they won't ever be your friend anyway"

Ah, you HAVE read it, then...

 

[Jennaonthebeach]

It's the only story Fox News currently has for Ohio. Some cover-up:

View attachment 362751

nuance is wasted on you right?

 

[Jennaonthebeach]

Twitter again. Most Americans haven't heard of PVC, or Europe.

you haven't heard of greenwash i suppose.

 

[Pickman's model]

It's the only story Fox News currently has for Ohio. Some cover-up:

View attachment 362751

What does amtrak expansion have to do with this incident? We've found you can't count to two.

 

[Pickman's model]

Twitter again. Most Americans haven't heard of PVC, or Europe.

Sources for your pvc and Europe claims pls, I suspect these are more platinumsage "facts". I'm not inclined to take things on trust from someone who can't count as far as two

 

[Jennaonthebeach]

I said there had been claims that news was being suppressed which now is me a conspiraloon claiming a cover up is going on. If platinumsage was being honest he wouldn't be changing my words from 'suppression' to 'cover up'. It's news management that is going on. Who had even heard of this event before Saturday? It happened 6 days ago. I call that news suppression. Even now the stories are avoiding talking about the long term environmental damage, implications, and how a underfunded rail company cutting corners is responsible. News. Suppression.

 

[Humberto]

Rail Companies Blocked Safety Rules Before Ohio Derailment

Norfolk Southern helped convince government officials to repeal brake rules — and corporate lobbyists watered down hazmat safety regs.

www.levernews.com

Ohio catastrophe is ‘wake-up call’ to dangers of deadly train derailments

The next derailment ‘could be cataclysmic’ if action isn’t taken after the incident near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border, says expert

www.theguardian.com

That first article really illustrates how corporate greed and lobbying influence made it almost a matter of time for something like this to happen. Just one bit:

“If the axle breaks, it’s almost certain that the train is going to derail,” said John Risch, a former BNSF engineer and national legislative director for the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Union. “ECP brakes would help to bring the train to a stop. What they do is activate the brakes on each car at the same time immediately. That’s significant: When you apply the brakes on a conventional train, they brake from the front to the rear. The cars bunch up.”

Risch said that ECP brakes are the “most remarkable advancement” he ever encountered in his 31-year career as a railroad worker, adding: “It needs to be implemented.”

But instead of investing in the safety feature, the seven largest freight railroad companies in the U.S., including Norfolk Southern, spent $191 billion on stock buybacks and shareholder dividends between 2011 and 2021, far more than the $138 billion those firms spent on capital investments in the same time period.

The same companies also slashed their workforces by nearly 30 percent in that timeframe as part of what they called “precision scheduled railroading.” Such staffing cuts are likely contributing to safety issues in freight railways. In a recent investor presentation, Norfolk Southern disclosed an increase in train accidents over the past three consecutive years.

“The massive reduction in the workforce, attendance policies that encourage people to come to work when they’re sick or exhausted, lack of access to [paid] leave, the stress that is constantly put on workers because of how lean the workforce has become, it creates a negative culture in terms of safety,” Greg Regan, president of the Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, told The Lever.

 

[Aladdin]

Fuckinell...
People are still there while this is airborne?

PVC contains dangerous chemical additives including phthalates, lead, cadmium, and/or organotins, which can be toxic to your child's health. These toxic additives can leach out or evaporate into the air over time, posing unnecessary dangers to children.

 

[platinumsage]

nuance is wasted on you right?

you haven't heard of greenwash i suppose.

What does amtrak expansion have to do with this incident? We've found you can't count to two.

Sources for your pvc and Europe claims pls, I suspect these are more platinumsage "facts". I'm not inclined to take things on trust from someone who can't count as far as two

I said there had been claims that news was being suppressed which now is me a conspiraloon claiming a cover up is going on. If platinumsage was being honest he wouldn't be changing my words from 'suppression' to 'cover up'. It's news management that is going on. Who had even heard of this event before Saturday? It happened 6 days ago. I call that news suppression. Even now the stories are avoiding talking about the long term environmental damage, implications, and how a underfunded rail company cutting corners is responsible. News. Suppression.

Wow some people are bored this morning.

 

[platinumsage]

I said there had been claims that news was being suppressed which now is me a conspiraloon claiming a cover up is going on. If platinumsage was being honest he wouldn't be changing my words from 'suppression' to 'cover up'. It's news management that is going on. Who had even heard of this event before Saturday? It happened 6 days ago. I call that news suppression. Even now the stories are avoiding talking about the long term environmental damage, implications, and how a underfunded rail company cutting corners is responsible. News. Suppression.

Really. Lawers and the media are all over the train company e.g:

Attorney leery of $1,000 ‘inconvenience’ checks Norfolk Southern is offering victims of East Palestine train derailment

A fiery train derailment in East Palestine caused residents to evacuate to avoid exposure to harzardous chemicals.

www.cleveland.com

"O’Shea said he wants a “crystal clear” written agreement from Norfolk Southern that the payments do not limit future claims. Until then, he is telling residents not to accept the checks, and if they have, not to cash them, even if it’s tempting to do so....O’Shea said there is a “latency period” with vinyl chloride, which means related health problems may not occur for many years down the road."

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

I've seen a tonne of comments from Americans, on Twitter, saying things like, "why haven't I heard about this?" so I think its safe to say that its not really getting the coverage you would expect it to.

Yeah me too. The first I heard about it was american friends on facebook etc wondering why this wasn't big news.
That and the video of the arrest of the journalist that was arrested before a press conference for obstruction and talking too loud or something.

 

[Yossarian]

This CNN story goes into a fair bit of detail about residents' concerns.

Although the explosion risk is past, Ratner said, people who live in East Palestine want to know about the chemical threats that might linger.

Fish and frogs have died in local streams. People have reported dead chickens and shared photos of dead dogs and foxes on social media. They say they smell chemical odors around town.

When asked at Wednesday’s briefing about exactly what spilled, representatives from Norfolk Southern listed butyl acrylate, vinyl chloride and a small amount of non-hazardous lube oil.

After a train derailment, Ohio residents are living the plot of a movie they helped make | CNN

When Ben Ratner's family signed up in 2021 to be extras in the movie "White Noise," they thought it would be a fun distraction from their day-to-day life in blue-collar East Palestine, Ohio.

www.cnn.com

Plenty of stuff in local media - though unfortunately the YoungstownVindicator, which had a long and proud history of fearlessly investigating corruption, went bust in 2019 and was revived as a shell of its former self by a conservative-leaning newspaper chain.

EPA lists 4 chemicals released in derailment

A letter the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency delivered to the Norfolk Southern Railway Co. Friday lists several chemicals released into the environment from the company’s Feb. 3 train derailment in East Palestine that have not been discussed publicly before. The letter, posted on the U.S...

www.vindy.com

Unites States EPA sends general notice of potential liability

The United States EPA sent the following statement pertaining to a general notice of potential liability to Norfolk Southern Railway Company. The statement in its entirety follows and is acessible at https://epaosc.org/site/doc_list.aspx?site_id=15933 ————————————————————————————— UNITED STATES...

www.salemnews.net

 

[platinumsage]

Even now the stories are avoiding talking about the long term environmental damage, implications, and how a underfunded rail company cutting corners is responsible. News. Suppression.

"Norfork Southern and the other Class 1 railroads are seeking to boost profits by cutting crews. Trains that can stretch nearly a mile or more are often operated with just a two-person crew, who themselves are overworked and exhausted from being constantly on call. And the railroads want to even reduce this to single-person crews. Maintenance of ways crews are stretched thin and forced to put “bandaids” on problems which should be properly repaired. Much of the rail cars currently in use are decades old and are not regularly inspected."

Crews burn toxic chemicals from Ohio train crash in “controlled release”

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine warned that fumes released into the air from the venting operation “can be deadly if inhaled.” Officials designated a “red zone” around the site where people faced “grave danger of death” from breathing in the fumes.

www.wsws.org

"Among other things, the lawsuit says the railroad failed to maintain and inspect its tracks and rail cars, failed to provide appropriate employee training, and failed to reasonably warn the public. Greg Regan, president of the AFL-CIO’s Transportation Trades Department coalition, said he worries the chances of a catastrophic derailment are increasing because major freight railroads have eliminated roughly one-third of their workers over the past six years. Companies have shifted to running fewer, longer trains and say they don’t need as many crews, mechanics and locomotives."

Ohio derailment that released toxic chemicals raises railroad safety questions

Rail unions believe the industry has gotten riskier in recent years after widespread job cuts left workers spread thin.

www.pbs.org

News supression in action!

 

[Jennaonthebeach]

Yeah me too. The first I heard about it was american friends on facebook etc wondering why this wasn't big news.
That and the video of the arrest of the journalist that was arrested before a press conference for obstruction and talking too loud or something.

I caught it by chance on Friday from a tweet by someone who lived very close to the event. But i didn't think too much of it because of all the fake shit that gets posted these days. It was when i saw quite a long thread about it on Saturday that i realised its kind of a big deal really. I did some google searches and didn't find much. Checked on Urban - nothing. I couldn't believe it wasn't getting headlines tbh.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

I caught it by chance on Friday from a tweet by someone who lived very close to the event. But i didn't think too much of it because of all the fake shit that gets posted these days. It was when i saw quite a long thread about it on Saturday that i realised its kind of a big deal really. I did some google searches and didn't find much. Checked on Urban - nothing. I couldn't believe it wasn't getting headlines tbh.

Me too. . I thought the same thing.

 

[Yossarian]

News supression in action!

One of those is from a public broadcaster and the other is from the World Socialst Web Site, it's too bad local reports don't seem to going into the same detail - while it doesn't seem that this story is being actively suppressed, it seems like the long-term media ownership trends in Ohio and much of the rest of the US are making easier for news to be suppressed, or at least for the corporate version of events to be presented as fact more easily.

 

[Pickman's model]

It was in the new york times on monday

 

[Jennaonthebeach]

i'm prepared to admit i'm wrong about this being suppressed in the news but i still am pissed off about being accused of being a conspiraloon. I call out conspiraloons. I am not one.

 

[platinumsage]

It's an industrial accident affecting a very limited area with no deaths or injuries reported. Coverage is widespread, in fact probably more widespread than is warranted due to the dramatic pictures.

If the lawyers, the NTSB, campaigners and the media don't ultimately hold the train company to account for deficiencies in maintenance I'd be very surprised.

 

[platinumsage]

i'm prepared to admit i'm wrong about this being suppressed in the news but i still am pissed off about being accused of being a conspiraloon. I call out conspiraloons. I am not one.

You said "seems authorities are actively suppressing this" so you shouldn't be surprised when challenged for evidence of that.

 

[Jennaonthebeach]

tell ignored member that i can't see what he/she/they has written. So give it up.

 

[platinumsage]

tell ignoring member that they're a conspiraloon.

 

[stethoscope]

I'd probably ignore platinumsage if I were you Jenna, their posts from some of the transport threads convince me they've sustained a knock to the head from a RTC whilst standing in the middle of the carriageway berating aggressive pedestrians.

 

[Jennaonthebeach]

I'd probably ignore platinumsage if I were you Jenna, their posts from some of the transport threads convince me they've sustained a knock to the head from an RTC whilst standing in the middle of the carriageway berating aggressive pedestrians.

I thought this would be a discussion about the environmental effects, the health effects, and the fact that trade unions ave been warning about such an event, the fact that railway workers have been banned from striking, the underfunding of maintenance, the lack of safety protocols, that maybe the cops probably shouldn't have blown the whole lot sky high - and why was a mainstream journalist roughed up and falsely arrested, and that there have been claims that this load was mis-identified in order to get it shifted on the cheap. But nope - platinumsage seems to want to make this all about me. So very Urban 75.

 

[platinumsage]

I thought this would be a discussion about the environmental effects, the health effects, and the fact that trade unions ave been warning about such an event, the fact that railway workers have been banned from striking, the underfunding of maintenance, the lack of safety protocols, that maybe the cops probably shouldn't have blown the whole lot sky high, and that there have been claims that this load was mis-identified in order to get it shifted on the cheap. But nope - platinumsage seems to want to make this all about me. So very Urban 75.

Instead of discussing those things you chose to focus your OP solely on some fantasy suppression of news by the authorities. And now you complain about things not being discussed despite having failed to discuss those things yourself. That's very Urban75.