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Health concerns grow in East Palestine, Ohio, after train derailment

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Re: Health concerns grow in East Palestine, Ohio, after train derailment

#111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So Biden, through the Department of Transport and Pete Buttigieg couldn't put those regulations back in place? Or were right in forcing striking rail workers back to work instead of, oh I don't know, supported them on basic issues like safety? Yes Republicans are bad. But so are Dems, and their voters refusing to hold the party accountable for obvious failures. It's why the country is going to shift. R's pass bad pol…

How do you know the crash was the result of missing regulations? Republicans are against government regulations,you know "big government" and all that, so why would they do a better job?

Unfortunately this issue has multiple factors that contributed, and weakening the legislation and regulations that were put in place to avoid issues like this by the Obama administration:

"The sequence of events began a decade ago in the wake of a major uptick in derailments of trains carrying crude oil and hazardous chemicals, including a New Jersey train crash that leaked the same toxic chemical as in Ohio.

In response, the Obama administration in 2014 proposed improving safety regulations for trains carrying petroleum and other hazardous materials. However, after industry pressure, the final measure ended up narrowly focused on the transport of crude oil and exempting trains carrying many other combustible materials, including the chemical involved in this weekend’s disaster." [0]

Subsequently by the Trump Administration:

"The AAR lobbying group concurred that “the costs of the ECP rule substantially outweigh its benefits,” and claimed the mandate would cost them about $3 billion — or roughly 2 weeks of their operating revenue in a typical year. The FRA estimated the brake requirement would cost about half a billion.

Trump’s Transportation Department ultimately rescinded the brake rule in late 2017." [0]

According to federal investigators, there was a mechanical issue with a car's axle, which basically ends with a derailment. The ECP brakes may have lessened hazard by braking all the cars immediately, classifying the train as HHFT may have meant the train would be going slower than it was, I couldn't find any data about the speed the train was moving at.

This seems to be an area of bipartisan consensus, putting the interests of big business above those of the people.

[0] - https://www.levernews.com/rail-companies-blocked-safety-rule...

Re: Health concerns grow in East Palestine, Ohio, after train derailment

#112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not denying the accident was bad, I'm tempering an unwarranted level of hysteria for what is another small scale industrial accident. People are drumming up hysteria for political capital, but its not fair to people who live in Ohio or Pennsylvania and now think they can't use their water, they're doomed to cancer at 45, and their kids will be mutants. It's being blown way of of proportion to the reality of it. I…

> People are drumming up hysteria for political capital, but its not fair to people who live in Ohio or Pennsylvania and now think they can't use their water, they're doomed to cancer at 45, and their kids will be mutants. Can you show me a single comment on this website and not on reddit that is saying those things? Also, did you know that the EPA also said that all the dust in the air on 9/11 was perfectly safe? I…

How about this?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34773513#34774984

Re: Health concerns grow in East Palestine, Ohio, after train derailment

#113
post #100
post #67

I've been seeing content on Tiktok where even 100 miles away they're seeing small dead fish which is apparently according to the folks making the videos a massive red flag. In general I grow super weary of companies and the government downplaying these sorts of things. It seems to constantly follow the pattern of people saying "It's not that bad" and then only years later do we actually see the horrific health and en…

Are you: - weary of these getting downplayed (pron. wee-ree = you are tired of it) - wary of these getting downplayed (pron. way-ray = you are suspicious of it)

I think people combine leery and wary in their mind and end up with weary, which they don't intend. I see it a lot.

In the case of the parent comment however, weary does work.

Re: Health concerns grow in East Palestine, Ohio, after train derailment

#114
post #8

This is basically the plot of “white noise” with Adam driver (on netflix).

White Noise had several plots over chapters. The plume scenes were a fantastic balance of hilarious and scary:

     Summary: Chapter 21
     Jack finds Heinrich on the roof, looking through a pair of binoculars at a distant black cloud of smoke. Heinrich informs Jack that a train car has been derailed. Later, they both return to watch the cloud. Heinrich says that the burning chemical in the air is Nyodene Derivative, or Nyodene D., a toxic substance that causes lumps in rats. The radio has already listed nausea, skin irritation, and sweaty palms as potential symptoms of exposure. Jack tries to reassure Heinrich that the smoke won’t come toward them and continues to act comfortable and indifferent. He sits down to pay the bills, even as rumors of increasing danger come in over the radio and phone. Sirens begin to blare through the neighborhood, but Jack declares that such things can’t happen in a town like theirs. New symptoms are reported on the radio, and the cloud is given a new name: the airborne toxic event. Heinrich tries to get his father to acknowledge the danger, but Jack declares that he is a college professor, not to mention the chair of a department, and can’t imagine someone like him fleeing something like an airborne toxic event. The family anxiously gathers for dinner as the air raid warnings grow closer.
https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/whitenoise/section7/

https://www.wlwt.com/article/ohio-train-derailment-white-noi...

https://twitter.com/Marfoogle/status/1625323668397256704

Re: Health concerns grow in East Palestine, Ohio, after train derailment

#115
post #78

I just watched the HBO Chernobyl miniseries (excellent, btw) and the parallels to the initial lack of action to a huge public health threat is chilling. If there is a carcinogen in the air, get people out of there!

There is not a carcinogen in the air. They evacuated the town while they performed the controlled burn, but now the combustion products (not really carcinogens) have dispersed and it’s safe to return.

Re: Health concerns grow in East Palestine, Ohio, after train derailment

#116
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The make up of the federal government changes greatly every two years. Our states probably have a similar turnover. This is why it's important to vote, not only in general elections, but also primary elections. Seats shouldn't be safe for incumbents who let this happen or anyone who takes huge donations from the billionaires or hedge funds you're talking about. Edit: I mean: the makeup of our government may change gr…

Also: if you live in a non-swing state, consider voting in the primary of whichever party is most likely to win the election, even if that isn't the party you'll likely vote for. AIUI although you can't vote in more than primary you can still vote for whomever you want in the regular election regardless of which primary you voted in. The idea being that in such states (mostly red or mostly blue), the primary effectiv…

I agree. I don't know if this is true in every state, but in some this requires you to update your voter registration.

Re: Health concerns grow in East Palestine, Ohio, after train derailment

#117
post #52
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the makeup of the federal government changes every two years, and yet nothing ever meaningfully changes, what does that say about the importance of voting?

If oligarchs spend tens of billions of dollars buying media companies in order to influence how people vote, what does that say about the importance of voting?

That the outcome of the voting is very important to those oligarchs.

If football teams spend hundreds of millions of dollars on their players, what does that say about the importance of football?

Re: Health concerns grow in East Palestine, Ohio, after train derailment

#118
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> which can cause headaches, nausea, and respiratory problems.... can make people dizzy and drowsy I also love this phrasing that talks about the immediate uncomfortable reactions, but makes no mention on the extremely serious long-term implications of exposure. These chemicals won't just make you feel unpleasant in the moment, they'll kill you in the long run.

The dose makes the poison

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Re: Health concerns grow in East Palestine, Ohio, after train derailment

#119
post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you: - weary of these getting downplayed (pron. wee-ree = you are tired of it) - wary of these getting downplayed (pron. way-ray = you are suspicious of it)

I think people combine leery and wary in their mind and end up with weary, which they don't intend. I see it a lot. In the case of the parent comment however, weary does work.

The rare occasion that it does work both ways

Re: Health concerns grow in East Palestine, Ohio, after train derailment

#120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The cause was an overheated wheel bearing melting and dislodging the axle, causing a derailment. The overheating was detected, and ignored. The quote is, as I recall, "The next sensor will detect it if it's a problem." Could the electric brakes have helped? Not sure in this specific case. In other cases? Probably. Air brakes are remarkably cool technology (how the valves work still boggles me from time to time) but t…

I am amused by how much remixing of facts is happening. On Reddit, I learned that the railroad was negligent for not replacing the rails since the Civil War.

That’s because the Anti-American bots and click farms are much more prevalent on Reddit. Not to mention I have a feeling a huge amount of active users are teens and repeat the same BS without checking.
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