Ohio Train Derailment Causes Safety Concerns
Summary from the AllSides News Team
A train derailment causing a toxic spill in Ohio is raising safety concerns from residents, activists, and government officials.
The Details: A train carrying vinyl chloride derailed in East Palestine, Ohio earlier this week, causing an evacuation of the town of nearly 5,000. Residents have since returned, as the EPA and local government continue conducting air and water quality tests. The transporter, Norfolk Southern, is working to remediate the crash site.
For Context: The crash, caused by a broken axle, is the eighth train derailment in the Pittsburgh area over the last five years. While no people were killed, residents reportedly found dead fish in streams near the crash, causing concern over water quality. Earlier this week, a NewsNation (Center Bias) reporter was arrested at an Ohio press conference concerning the wreck.
Key Quotes: East Palestine’s mayor, said “We’re going to hold their feet to the fire. They’re going to do what they said… and they’re going to protect the people of this town.” Ron Kaminkow, secretary for the non-profit Railroad Workers United, said, “The Palestine wreck is the tip of the iceberg and a red flag. If something is not done… the next derailment could be cataclysmic.”
How The Media Covered It: The incident was covered similarly across the spectrum. The Guardian (Lean-Left Bias) noted how combining the Department of Transportation’s 2020 approval of shipping liquid natural gas by rail and record-low amount of railroad industry employees could make future derailments more common and deadly.
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Left
Ohio catastrophe is ‘wake-up call’ to dangers of deadly train derailments
Five days after a train carrying vinyl chloride derailed and exploded near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border, crews ignited a controlled burn of toxic chemicals to prevent a much more dangerous explosion.
Thousands in East Palestine, a town of about 5,000 people, evacuated, and officials warned the controlled burn would create a phosgene and hydrogen chloride plume across the region. Phosgene is a highly toxic gas that can cause vomiting and breathing trouble, and was used as a weapon in the first world war.
Though no one died in the accident, the catastrophe serves as a wake-up...
From the Center
Brockovich: Train derailment sparks water quality concerns
A number of East Palestine residents have reached out to consumer advocate Erin Brockovich with environmental concerns following the Ohio train derailment, she said in an interview with NewsNation.
Brockovich told NewsNation she’s received at least 100 emails about Ohio so far, with some of the residents telling her the fish in local bodies of water are dying.
Last Friday, a train of about 50 freight cars going from Madison, Illinois, to Conway, Pennsylvania, derailed in East Palestine. Ten of the cars contained hazardous materials, prompting evacuation orders that lasted from Sunday to...
From the Right
Ohio mayor furious with Norfolk Southern after train derailment: 'We’re going to hold their feet to the fire'
An Ohio mayor had strong words for rail operator Norfolk Southern Railway, promising that he would hold the company accountable as East Palestine residents returned home for the first time since a train hauling chemicals derailed and later sent up a toxic plume of smoke last week.
Trent Conaway, East Palestine's mayor, acknowledged that his community remains frustrated due to lingering odors and promised the village is "not just taking the word" of Norfolk Southern Railway and has Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) representatives involved in air testing.
He told The Associated...
AllSides Picks
September 9th, 2024
September 9th, 2024
More News about Environment from the Left, Center and Right
From the Left
From the Center
From the Right
