Ohio train derailment

[notreal]

Plus even if there was initial fish die off, the Ohio is a big body of water and many people use it as source water but first and foremost it's a river, which means the water that is present travels fast and is being added to as it moves along. An initial influx of a harmful chemical, like you'd expect at the beginning of a chemical spill, is going to quickly be dispersed and be quickly diluted.

And yes, I do live downstream from the spill and my community's source water is the Ohio so no need to think, "If it's so safe you drink it then" because I am.  Daily.

[intheden]

Feb 16, 2023 11:58:08 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Feb 15, 2023 7:26:36 GMT -5 intheden said:

I'm about 40 mins from E. Palestine. It's a mess there. People are very concerned as livestock and pets are dying. Yesterday they announced that there were more chemicals in the trains that originally thought. I feel horrible for the residents there. It's a poor area to begin with, so of course not everyone could evacuate. Those that did were probably told they could return before it was actually safe. 

Per this CNN article, they haven't been able to confirm that animals are dying - aka nothing has been reported or investigated - www.cnn.com/2023/02/15/us/toxic-chemicals-train-derailments-explainer/index.html

Not an 'official' confirmation, but there are definitely people investigating.

www.wkbn.com/news/local-news/east-palestine-train-derailment/north-lima-woman-finds-chickens-dead-tuesday-questions-chemical-release-from-train/

[pixy0stix]

I'm not in the least surprised that birds died. They have such sensitive respiratory systems. It's why canaries were used in mining. Heck, my own bird starts wheezing when we use Teflon to cook.

[boxertdog]

Feb 14, 2023 12:23:59 GMT -5 Michelle said:

Regarding the coverage topic - as someone mentioned above, Trump deregulation led to this crash. Another mention I saw (need to go find a source) was that in addition to the brakes already mentioned, the regulation Trump got rid of was about #engineers per train - it was proposed that one engineer could manage a 5 mile long train, and while this train probably had more than one engineer, poor staffing for safety may have contributed to the crash as well.

So there are multiple points about trump deregulation leading to crashes like this that have safety, health, and economic impact that is potentially far reaching that is of concern.

There's never more than 1 engineer on a train, there's an engineer who "drives" and a conductor who manages the cars, watches signals, brakes etc.

Aside from the regulation stuff railroad employees are the most exhausted human beings you'll ever meet. The fact that Joe Biden intervened in the union trying to get paid sick days should also be talked about in this conversation. Exhausted people make mistakes. I don't know what caused the derailment but it's a super dangerous job being done by people who are completely sleep deprived by design. The railroad companies are responsible for the danger here.

[picksthemusic]

John Oliver did a good segment on it last night. I can't find video right now, but he was talking about how Trump's deregulations for the braking systems is being looked at as a major cause.