There was a really good comment on reddit that I duplicated here (with references to original): <a href="https://e40.github.io/2023-02-18-train-safety.html" rel="nofollow">https://e40.github.io/2023-02-18-train-safety.html</a><p>It explains <i>why</i> there are so many derailments these days.
"Most of these leaked out of the cars without vapourizing and ended up in the Ohio river causing some damage to wildlife."<p>SOME? I have seen lot of pictures that show a complete anhilation of the local fish population and contamination of the water supplies (strange deposits when boiled).<p>I think that there is a huge coverup ongoing.
> Neither was it equipped with electronically controlled pneumatic brakes, a safety measure that the railway industry lobbied against vigorously when Congress proposed a law to have them installed on trains because of the costs involved.<p>Safety has a cost. Lack of safety has a cost. The former the cost is financial. The latter it's lives, peace of mind, health, etc.<p>One is replaceable. One is not. Sadly Congress protected the replaceable one.
The subtitle raises a great question "Why was such a large amount of this chemical being transported by rail in the first place?" which the article wholly fails to address, for some reason. (It addresses the industrial applications of the chemical, but doesn't ever dive into the "being transported by rail" part.)
I assumed that’s why they burned the gas off. It produces hydrochloride acid, while initially very dangerous, it will eventually be diluted into the environment. The effects of which you can see on the melting paint on nearby cars. I thought this stuff was transported in two walled containers. Apparently not.
I wonder if this is somehow related to Congress' recent intervention in the railroad strike?<p><a href="https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/02/01/bnsf-f01.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/02/01/bnsf-f01.html</a>:<p>FTFA<p><i>">Only days after the law was passed, BNSF, Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern announced pilot programs to reduce crew sizes from two to one.<"</i><p>Norfolk Southern is the railroad company that suffered the Ohio spill.<p>wsws is hardly an unbiased source but they clearly support the RR workers.<p>So this incident could be sabotage or "faked sabotage" (damage done to falsely impute malfeasance by the workers/union).<p>Also saw a video of the train passing thru a prior town with one RR car axle spewing sparks.
It's becoming more clear that in the US health and safety are taking a back seat to corporate profits. It's shameful to read safety equipment that could have prevented this derailment was lobbied against by the railway industry.
Sadly, the author of this article doesn't provide any proof of his statements regarding chemicals "draining into the Ohio river"... he just seems to accept the statements made in other news sources without question.<p>Here's the latest news from Cincinatti:<p><a href="https://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/water/news/ohio-river-test-results-show-no-contaminants/" rel="nofollow">https://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/water/news/ohio-river-test-res...</a><p>Various conspiracy minded and politically motivated groups continue to push the Ohio derailment as some sort of environmental apocalypse in social media and elsewhere online when the evidence seems to indicate the spill was successfully contained.