Railroaded

Roadkill 60 Comments

A very good essay at Doomberg,

February 3 near the small town of East Palestine, Ohio. Here, a 52-car freight train operated by Norfolk Southern derailed, with 20 cars listed as having hazardous materials on board. Of those, five were carrying vinyl chloride, the same molecule of concern in the Paulsboro derailment. For a variety of reasons, the accident has touched off a bit of a national panic, with many news publications referring to the incident as “Ohio’s Chernobyl.” What actually occurred here, what are the true regional and national consequences, and is the ongoing media frenzy justified? Let’s dig in.

60 Replies to “Railroaded”

    1. Did the news people ask the NTSB how long the train is? “anonymous employee” is not a valid source without confirmation, and 18,000 tons is a bit heavy to run in the winter

  4. The derailment was an opportunity for the feds to kill more people.
    It was a controlled explosion, after all, but the goals had nothing to do with protecting anyone, quite the opposite, in fact.

  5. Nice balanced article. “Dilution is the solution to pollution”. I suspected many were over reacting, but that is what happens when gov’t and media chronically lie to citizens. Trust lost is hard to regain,

    H

    1. If you look at the drone footage the NTSB took there is no fire department monitors running water onto the crash site, while there is ongoing fires

    2. “Dilution is the solution to pollution”

      Indeed. This was going to be my comment, but you obviously beat me to it.

      Still though, the disinterest from the MSM and the Biden regime is despicable. We all already hate these communists of course, but I continue to enjoy them crapping all over themselves once again.

    3. I thoroughly understand that dilution is the solution to most everything in our environment. However. Those residents closest to this (puhleeze …) “controlled burn” … are NOT the beneficiaries of optimal dilution. They are being directed by the PA Dept. of Public Health (pdf linked in the article) to:
      – Wipe down the insides and outside of their homes
      – NOT vacuum as it could make contaminated particles airborne.
      – To do one section at a time as to not be overwhelmed
      – To seek out mental health professionals if you are too stressed out over cleaning the contaminants out of your homes

      AYFKM !??

      Questions:
      – Why isn’t FEMA on the ground HELPING these VICTIMS?
      – Where is the Red Crescent, err Red Cross?
      – Why is the STATE Dept. of Health directing homeowners under the toxic cloud to clean their own homes?
      – Why isn’t the Railroad sending teams of house cleaners in hazmat suits to do the cleaning FOR the VICTIMS of their accident?

      Our nation, and the oil companies send THOUSANDS of trained cleaners and spend $millions upon millions of dollars cleaning ROCKS after oil spills. Cleaning shore birds by hand. Lovingly caressing every living thing after an oil spill. But we do NOTHING for the PEOPLE who just got TOXIC CLOUD BOMBED!!?? What the Hole eeee F^CK !!??

      1. Normally, CO2 is found in the air at very low concentrations, at around 0.04%. Carbon Dioxide is an inert gas produced by combustion and respiration, that is only an issue when it replaces the Oxygen that was being consumed to create it, such as in a space capsule.

        If all of the carbon on earth was burned up to create Carbon Dioxide it would not add enough to the atmosphere to be a concern. The atmosphere could be 80% Carbon Dioxide, so long as there was still the 20% Oxygen we would be fine.

        1. If that is true as far as carbon being burned and creating carbon dioxide then why are we paying a carbon tax that was initiated by some moron who would not know carbon from nuclear waste.

  7. “To do otherwise is to assume the EPA would fabricate complex technical data on the fly to deceive the public and protect the very corporate interests they otherwise infuriate with their harsh oversight on a daily basis.”

    Are we talking about the same EPA that has classified CO2 as a pollutant that endangers human health? That EPA?

    1. Yes, that one. Covering up an environmental disaster runs counter to EPA’s institutional track record and brand reputation.

      1. Agreed, depending of course on who and what is causing the environmental impact – bird blenders for example – and the EPA does not need to have actual environmental disasters to advance their agenda . They can make one up out of whole cloth – as they did with CO2.

        So one has to wonder why they wouldn’t take the opportunity to act where there is at least a modicum of facts to allow them, as you point out, to advance their record? Kind of a missed opportunity.

        EPA is a political arm of the uniparty – same as every other co-opted lettered agency – and they are more than happy to protect “certain” corporate interests against others.

        So maybe its money, favors owed – or it could end up being nothing – but my point was disagreeing with the authors positions that the EPA would never engage in something to deceive the public.

    2. True story: my elderly next door neighbor killed himself in his garage. Simply sealed up all the doors and windows, turned on his classic 1968 VW Bug … and took a forever nap. Killed by Co2. Ohhhhhhhhh mommmmmaaaaaaa.

      Wha? what? Co2 is abundant in the air we breathe? It’s completely inert and harmless? Ohhhhhhhhh he was killed by Co. But that’s pretty much the same? Right? You’ll have to excuse me because I was busy posting and watching TikTok videos during the Biology unit on Co2. So ALL the Co’s are bad news … right?

      Thanks EPA … and are you all still wearing your masks?

      1. Carbon monoxide poisoning occurs when carbon monoxide builds up in your bloodstream. When too much carbon monoxide is in the air, your body replaces the oxygen in your red blood cells with carbon monoxide. This can lead to serious tissue damage, or even death.

        Carbon dioxide poisoning occurs when a person breathes in high concentrations of CO2 gas.

        Normally, CO2 is found in the air at very low concentrations, at around 0.04%. This concentration of CO2 is typically harmless to the body. However, certain situations may increase exposure to CO2

        The most common cause of CO2 poisoning is working in small, poorly ventilated spaces such as basements, storage tanks, and mines. This is because poor ventilation causes a buildup of CO2 that eventually displaces the oxygen that is available

        Poisoning can also occur in areas where alcoholic beverages are made, like wineries, breweries, and cellars. This is because the fermentation process that produces alcohol also creates CO2.

        A source of CO2 that is often overlooked is dry ice, which is the frozen form of CO2. There are a few reports of CO2 poisoning caused by dry ice melting in enclosed spaces.

        Volcanoes also emit CO2 in large quantities, which can collect into nearby pocketed locations. A small number of CO2 poisoning cases have been attributed to volcano emissions

        1. I’m pretty sure that the EPA will consider virtually every other chemical known to mankind to be harmless in concentrations of 0.04% … you know … diluted. That Co2 must be really nasty stuff. My bad.

  8. The thing to remember about government agencies is that they are switch hitters: they will lie to cover up as well as lie to stoke fear (COVID-19 went in the opposite way: fear first, with underlying cover ups, then cover ups, with underlying distractions). So, you can never be sure in the initial days if its a “real” crisis or a “engineered” crisis or a mix of both.

    1. The OFFICIAL dead fish count still stands at 3,500. Pretty amazing … because when a fertilizer/weed killer chemical was spilled into the upper Sacramento (trout) River in Dunsmuir, CA … more than 1 million fish were killed and tens of thousands of amphibians (who could escape by land, for the biology challenged)

      https://www.mtshastanews.com/story/news/2020/07/15/from-our-archives-cantara-loop-spill-was-29-years-ago/112681966/

      Fun fact: The tanker that spilled into the Sacramento River there in Dunsmuir … was one of My father in Law’s tankers. He directed transport for Shell Chemical then Western Farm Chemical. And those fertilizer/weed killer cars were HIS. Fortunately, he wasn’t responsible for the actual train operation.

  10. Very good article. Thanks for posting that. Some points worth noting: As commenter Lefty points out, the reactions we’re seeing to this are a direct result of government and their media friends regularly lying to people. Good point about the EPA. The EPA we’ve come to know and love could easily be imagined fanning the flames of hysteria, here.

    1. Many years after creating the EPA, Nixon was asked by Monica Crowley why he had done so. Nixon thought a minute, shrugged, and mumbled, “it seemed a good idea at the time.”

      Nixon was considered moderate to conservative in terms of domestic politics, and was one of the more cerebral and serious-minded US presidents. Even he succumbed to the mystique of Magical Thinking & Big Government Solutions.

      1. … and Ronald Reagan granted blanket amnesty to ALL the illegals living in America. Because he was promised the Border would be secured after that. And that there would never NEED to be another amnesty EVER. I guess he was already suffering from Alzheimers by then …

        1. Because he was promised the Border would be secured after that.

          All the “conservative” political heroes are tragic victims of treachery and lies, especially from within their own hand-picked circle of advisors and operatives. They are powerful, worldly men who have clawed their way up the greasy pole elbowing out other fierce competitors to attain political supremacy, but if they have a fault, it is that they are just too naive and trusting.

    1. Probably more like the Mississauga train derailment in 1979. I lived about a quarter of mile from where that train threw a pair of wheels that led to the crash and close enough to Mavis Road that the first explosions rattled the windows and lit up the house. We had to leave our house for 4 or 5 days.

  12. Apples and oranges. Comparing the leaking of vinyl chloride to deliberately igniting it then measuring residual doesn’t reassure me in the least. I’ll wait, but my take is it is worse than what we are being told.

    2. REdPop

      I too lean that way…
      Vinyl Chloride
      Light it up…Creates Hydrogen Chloride
      Mixed with water vapour…?,
      Hydrochloric Acid.

      Given that, no surprise they chased away a reporter on scene.

      This is far far worse than being let on…IMO.

    3. Red Pop
      We’re all open to a better alternative to incineration.
      What would it be? What’s the industry standard? Vinyl chloride has been around and shipped in bulk for many decades. This isn’t the first spill or the last. I don’t think plastic is going away. So what is the solution?
      Manufacturing hubs that specialize in plastic, minimizing transport of the raw materials?

  13. So lots of commentary about the failure to react to the “derailment” – does anyone have any information on what may have caused the derailment?

      2. All modern rail cars are equipped with sealed roller bearings. These don’t normally catch on fire like the old time friction bearings which drew their lubrication from an oil bath. The friction bearing would overheat and eventually ignite the oil and grease. More often than not the “hotbox” would be spotted either from the front or rear of the train by it’s telltale smoke plume. Roller bearings on the other hand don’t normally give much visual indication of overheating and are very difficult to spot on a moving train. In the old days the early roller bearings had stink bombs built in to alert the caboose crew to an issue. There aren’t any cabooses now therefore rail lines have hotbox detectors at about 25 mile intervals in order to alert crews to various and assorted mechanical issues.

  14. The EPA will do as they are told depending on the situation. I believe the end game is to pit Left against Right until the resulting North American Civil War finishes what the vaccines could not. As George Carlin said “It’s a big club and you ain’t in it.”

  15. Nice love letter to the EPA…sheesh get a room.
    “In our experience, the EPA would not look to minimize the severity of an industrial accident of this type.”
    Oh sure, no gov’t agency ever has ever lied to the people they serve. That’s just crazy talk.
    And the EPA lying to NewYorkers two days after 9-11 that the air was safe to breathe despite several tons of asbestos, lead, concrete and other assorted cocktails still lingering in the air was just an oversight on their part. Uh huh. Go ahead, hitch your wagon to those effers. Count me out.

    LOL…small wonder the writer of that piece is anonymous.

    1. If you check the other site content, you’ll discover that defending the EPA etc. isn’t his normal schtick.

      1. Thanks for posting a counter point to all the chicken little claims written by couch jockey journalists, and the laughable Chernobyl (sic) motif.

  16. So, it was a good thing and all the fish died of old age? I’m betting Pollyanna, the author of this tripe, lives far from the site of the event. Is mostly benign like mostly peaceful?

    1. I am skeptical also.
      The last 3 years have convinced me not to trust any ‘arm’ of the government.
      Does ‘safe and effective’ ring any bells?
      It will take more than this anonymous reporter, and comments from the EPA to convince me that there will be no long term effects from that horrible black cloud.

    1. Apparently Blackrock has a big stake

      If anything blows up in North America, there’s a good chance Blackrock owns some equity in it.

  22. As for myself … I am far more worried about the health effects from a giant toxic chemical burn pit and cloud … than I am from catastrophic planetary disaster predicted by global warming computer models and/or fudged temperature records.

  23. It’s an interesting phenomenon playing out on this one.
    A couple different factions of conspiracy theorists got together to throw a party? Media sensationalism?
    Someone got the perfect drone shot of the mushroom cloud. A budding reporter grabbed the word “nuked”, and used the preceding picture to lead their story. One upmanship led the next writer to equate Chernobyl…. toss in a healthy dose of social media tinfoil hats….
    The article is probably right, this was just another industrial accident. Since industrial accidents aren’t generally newsworthy, corporate media didn’t bother. But of course, that’s proof that there’s a cover-up to those of us who have lost all faith in said media.
    There’s a dangerous slippery slope here. I’m not sure where we are in relation to it.

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