Ohio authorities plan 'controlled release' of toxic material from train derailment site

[BumRushDaShow]

Last edited Mon Feb 6, 2023, 06:14 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: WLWT Cincinnati/AP

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — Authorities in Ohio say they plan to release toxic chemicals from five cars of a derailed train in Ohio to reduce the threat of an explosion. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine says a “controlled release” of vinyl chloride will take place on Monday at 3:30 p.m. Residents near the site have been ordered to evacuate. DeWine said residents who were ordered to evacuate need to leave the area because of the risk of death or serious injury. Officials believe most if not all have already have left.

Authorities are going through neighborhoods to make sure people are out. Scott Deutsch of Norfolk Southern Railway estimates the release will last between one and three hours. The site is very close to the state line, and the evacuation area extends into Pennsylvania.

About 50 cars derailed in a fiery crash Friday night as the train carried a variety of products from Madison, Illinois, to Conway, Pennsylvania, rail operator Norfolk Southern said. No injuries to crew, residents or first responders were reported.

Federal investigators say the cause was a mechanical issue with a rail car axle. The three-member train crew received an alert about the mechanical defect “shortly before the derailment," Michael Graham, a board member of the National Transportation Safety Board, said Sunday. Graham said investigators identified the exact “point of derailment” but the board was still working to determine which rail car experienced the axle issue. A preliminary investigative report is expected in the next month or so.

Read more: https://www.wlwt.com/article/ohio-train-derailment-explosion-50-cars-national-guard/42775738

[ZonkerHarris]

1. because what could go wrong?

[Probatim]

2. I guess that's better than the current "uncontrolled release" of toxic materials.

[VGNonly]

3. "We are going to let it vent

into the atmosphere and hope it doesn't explode".

That should work fine!

[LudwigPastorius]

4. "Short-term exposure to low levels of substances associated with the derailment does not...

present a long-term health risk to residents"

Depends on how low the levels are.

The symptoms of vinyl chloride exposure are classified by ppm levels in ambient air with 4,000 ppm having a threshold effect.

The intensity of symptoms varies from acute (1,000–8,000 ppm), including dizziness, nausea, visual disturbances, headache, and ataxia, to chronic (above 12,000 ppm), including narcotic effect, cardiac arrhythmias, and fatal respiratory failure.

I guess it's not a long-term health risk if it kills you within minutes.

[TeamProg]

5. Safe a milk.. nt

[CaptainTruth]

6. Remember these events from 2015 & 2016?

Senate Democrats push White House on oil train safety
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-oil-rail/senate-democrats-push-white-house-on-oil-train-safety-idUSKBN0ML2BM20150325]

Democrats Mount New Crude Train Safety Push After Derailment
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-and-energy/democrats-mount-new-crude-train-safety-push-after-derailment]

[BumRushDaShow]

7. This derailment

is actually a bit "worse" (not oil related but chemical). With a tanker of crude or refined petroleum, even with those substances having volatiles, they can be more easily contained than something like the vinyl chloride some of those OH derailed tanks were holding, and which is a flammable gas.