No thread yet on the train derailment in Ohio?

17 February 2023, 04:49 PM

big al

Since this happened in my region, it's been an ongoing topic on local news.

The initial fire and smoke plume was awesome. The smoke plume could be seen on weather radar for miles downwind.

The decision to burn off vinyl chloride rather than risk an explosion of one or more tank cars continues to be a question of best choice. Based on the newscasts of town hall meetings, I don't think reassurances of minimal risk by anyone including the state DEP and federal EPA will be sufficient to allay the fears of some nearby residents. There is a genuine fear of taking anyone's word regarding risk from the government or anyone else.

Big Al

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Money seems to buy the most happiness when you give it away.

Why does everything have to be so complicated, all in the name of convenience. -ShiroKuro

A lifetime of experience will change a person. If it doesn't, then you're already dead inside. -MarkJ

17 February 2023, 04:50 PM

big al

quote:
Originally posted by big al:
Since this happened in my region, it's been an ongoing topic on local news.

The initial fire and smoke plume was awesome. The smoke plume could be seen on weather radar for miles downwind.

The decision to burn off vinyl chloride rather than risk an explosion of one or more tank cars continues to be a question of best choice. Based on the newscasts of town hall meetings, I don't think reassurances of minimal risk by anyone including the state DEP and federal EPA will be sufficient to allay the fears of some nearby residents. There is a genuine fear of taking anyone's word regarding risk from the government or anyone else.

Big Al

17 February 2023, 06:25 PM

Steve Miller

So - who pays for this?

17 February 2023, 08:55 PM

ShiroKuro

I was reading about this yesterday, I had no idea before then. It sounds like an absolute nightmare for the people who live there.

And it's probably going to happen more and more as America's infrastructure continues to age without good oversight.

18 February 2023, 12:58 AM

Amanda

quote:
Originally posted by big al:
Since this happened in my region, it's been an ongoing topic on local news.

The initial fire and smoke plume was awesome. The smoke plume could be seen on weather radar for miles downwind.

The decision to burn off vinyl chloride rather than risk an explosion of one or more tank cars continues to be a question of best choice. Based on the newscasts of town hall meetings, I don't think reassurances of minimal risk by anyone including the state DEP and federal EPA will be sufficient to allay the fears of some nearby residents. There is a genuine fear of taking anyone's word regarding risk from the government or anyone else.

Big Al

Very worrying!

Since you're the most in the know please keep us posted.

18 February 2023, 10:45 AM

Lisa

My understanding is that Obama passed a regulation requiring a certain type of upgraded braking system to be installed on all freight trains carrying hazardous materials but the Trump administration repealed the regulation at the railroad industry's request.

I read that experts believe that those brakes would have prevented this derailment.

So I suppose this is just one more mess that we can thank our favorite ex-president for.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry...16abe4b0255caaefab8a

18 February 2023, 11:43 AM

big al

Buried deep within that article is the fact that this train would not have been required to have the brake system under consideration under the proposed regulation.

From initial reports, it is not evident to me that any type of braking system would have avoided the wreck.

I'll wait for the NTSB report to learn the lessons to be learned, but those typically take a year or more to be compiled and issued. They are ultimately the authoritative word on all sorts of transportation accidents - rail, air, roadway, pipeline, hazardous materials, etc.

From what I've seen on local news reports, nothing that anyone says or does will satisfy the concerns of some people near the accident. In an accident where no one was killed or clearly injured, the comparisons to Chernobyl that I've heard seem like hyperbole to me.

Big Al

19 February 2023, 12:31 PM

wtg

There was a segment on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopolous this morning. Two professors were interviewed about the East Palestine incident. Both of them agreed that more testing needs to be done and that it's possible that the various agencies may not be testing for all the possible chemicals that could be by-products of the vinyl chloride being burned off.

At the end, Martha Raddatz asked them whether they would stay in East Palestine right now with their families and both said "no". They both think there are too many unanswered questions.

I'll post the video and/or transcript as soon as they become available.

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We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home. - Australian Aboriginal proverb

Bazootiehead-in-training

19 February 2023, 12:55 PM

wtg

Transcript is now available. You can do a find on one of the names to jump to the relevant section. A video auto-starts, but it is not the video for the program but some kind of other ABC News programming.

quote:
There's been a lot of political finger-pointing in East Palestine. So, we wanted to bring together a panel of experts who can give us the best information about that chemical spill and the response.

Joining us is Samantha Montano, professor of emergency management at Massachusetts Maritime Academy, and Peter Decarlo, professor of environmental health at Johns Hopkins University.

Both of these folks were very calm and professional in their assessments. No hysteria or hype.

quote:
RADDATZ: Bottom line, would you move back to East Palestine if you were living there?

DECARLO: I have two little boys. I would not.

RADDATZ: OK.

How about you?

MONTANA: Not yet. Not until there's more testing.

RADDATZ: Very disturbing news, but thanks, both of you for your expertise.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politic...en/story?id=97313852

You need a cable provider or have to sign in with ABC to view this episode now. It becomes available a week from now for anyone to watch without signing in.

https://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek

20 February 2023, 01:35 PM

Daniel

I wouldn't want to be living there.

Yikes.

20 February 2023, 08:00 PM

Nina

In the "never read the comments, they'll make your head explode" department, I was reading the comments following an article on the derailment a few days ago.

Dumb comment of the day: the guy was blaming Biden because he passed that "huge infrastructure scam," so why wasn't this already fixed?

21 February 2023, 06:41 PM

Daniel

Governor drinks the tap water.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/21...e-tuesday/index.html

21 February 2023, 07:26 PM

Steve Miller

Kind of OT but I just learned that East Palestine is pronounced East Palas-TEEN. This fits with other town names around here.

Milan is MY-lan. Lima is LY-ma. Berlin Heights is BURR-lin Heights.

And here I was just getting used to “Tree Lawn” instead of “Parkway”.

21 February 2023, 08:19 PM

AdagioM

quote:
Originally posted by Steve Miller:
Kind of OT but I just learned that East Palestine is pronounced East Palas-TEEN. This fits with other town names around here.

Milan is MY-lan. Lima is LY-ma. Berlin Heights is BURR-lin Heights.

And here I was just getting used to “Tree Lawn” instead of “Parkway”.

I just heard “East Palas-teen” on NPR, so I guess that’s right. Like the New MAD-rid seismic fault line.

Around here, your tree lawn is a parking strip!