10-02-2024, 07:55 PM
Just a quick follow-up, since the political types are digging for dirt...
From ArsTechnica: Toxic chemicals from Ohio train derailment lingered in buildings for months
On February 3, 2023, a train carrying chemicals jumped the tracks in East Palestine, Ohio, rupturing railcars filled with hazardous materials and fueling chemical fires at the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.
The disaster drew global attention as the governors of Ohio and Pennsylvania urged evacuations for a mile around the site. Flames and smoke billowed from burning chemicals, and an acrid odor radiated from the derailment area as chemicals entered the air and spilled into a nearby creek.
Three days later, at the urging of the rail company Norfolk Southern, about 1 million pounds of vinyl chloride, a chemical that can be toxic to humans at high doses, was released from the damaged train cars and set aflame.
Federal investigators later concluded that the open burn and the black mushroom cloud it produced were unnecessary, but it was too late. Railcar chemicals spread into Ohio and Pennsylvania.
This computer-generated map of contamination spread is a bit disconcerting...
![[Image: Screenshot-2024-10-01-at-10-54-04-file-2...pixels.png]](https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Screenshot-2024-10-01-at-10-54-04-file-20240923-16-2jo28g.jpg-AVIF-Image-1000-%C3%97-770-pixels.png)
But remember, this is based upon data probability... these are not directly measured values.
But letting people return after only a month, without ensuring contamination limits in those buildings was stupid.
"Appearances matter," remember?
From ArsTechnica: Toxic chemicals from Ohio train derailment lingered in buildings for months
On February 3, 2023, a train carrying chemicals jumped the tracks in East Palestine, Ohio, rupturing railcars filled with hazardous materials and fueling chemical fires at the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.
The disaster drew global attention as the governors of Ohio and Pennsylvania urged evacuations for a mile around the site. Flames and smoke billowed from burning chemicals, and an acrid odor radiated from the derailment area as chemicals entered the air and spilled into a nearby creek.
Three days later, at the urging of the rail company Norfolk Southern, about 1 million pounds of vinyl chloride, a chemical that can be toxic to humans at high doses, was released from the damaged train cars and set aflame.
Federal investigators later concluded that the open burn and the black mushroom cloud it produced were unnecessary, but it was too late. Railcar chemicals spread into Ohio and Pennsylvania.
This computer-generated map of contamination spread is a bit disconcerting...
But remember, this is based upon data probability... these are not directly measured values.
But letting people return after only a month, without ensuring contamination limits in those buildings was stupid.
"Appearances matter," remember?
