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Train Derailment and Toxic Cloud Over Ohio All But Ignored by Mainstream Media
Lobbying and lack of regulation caused a catastrophic environmental disaster— where’s the coverage?
On the night of Friday the 3rd of February, a few miles from Pennsylvania in the small village of East Palestine, Ohio, a massive Norfolk Southern freight train one hundred cars long had a derailment. Almost two weeks later, information is still emerging as to the extent of the devastation. But according to initial reports from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), ten cars came off the tracks, five of which contained the hazardous chemical vinyl chloride — although, I’ve seen other numbers.
Due to a massive inferno and plumes of toxic smoke, there was a shelter-in-place order for the roughly 5000 residents of the sleepy town, and citizens within a one-mile radius of the crash site got knocks on their doors from police shortly after the crash and were ordered to evacuate. Many were reportedly allowed to go back shortly after and experienced symptoms such as headaches mere minutes after returning.
The wreckage burned for days, and images of the flames and dark clouds are extremely ominous.