Derailment Dilemma and So There's That

Has the train derailment in rural East Palestine, Ohio gotten the attention it deserves? Why mentioned this? Because we and our elected or appointed government officials often forget that while railways are crucial to our way of life, they can also on occasion be dangerous, to the point of deadly. This is especially true when trains are transporting mercurial payload and/or lethal consignment. Which takes us to rural East Palestine, which was the site of a massive train derailment on 3 February. Thankfully, no one was immediately injured, but the aeonic human and environmental costs are yet to be fully understood. Judging by the magnitude of the derailment and the toxicity of the load and the dark black dirtiness of the smoke, it seems pretty serious, no?

Take a journey back in time: As was reported by Associated Press, “Norfolk Southern said 20 of the more than 100 cars were classified as carrying hazardous materials — defined as cargo that could pose any kind of danger ‘including flammables, combustibles, or environmental risks.’” Is that not an understatement? More like hazardous indeed. The fire lasted several days. Per Fox News, “Three days later, residents were ordered to evacuate while Ohio officials executed a controlled release of vinyl chloride to prevent an explosion, which sent thick clouds of poisonous smoke billowing into the air.” A controlled release and burn seems like the least-lame of what must have been a bunch of lame options.

To make matters worse, local authorities announced to local residents that air and water testing showed it was safe for residents to return home. However, some of those who have done so have reported sick and dying animals, and lots of dead fish and chickens in and around the area. If other animals are the canary in the coal mine, East Palestine in in deep kimchi. A railroad official said tests had been conducted following the accident without showing any substances related to the derailment “and does not indicate a health risk.” I ask you, the reader, this being the case how do we account for all the dead fish and animals?

During the interval between the accident and now what does our dauntless Transportation Secretary, Pete Buttigieg, have to say about all this? For the most part, he says nothing.  By Buttigieg’s initial silence we are left to draw our own conclusions. But one wonders: If the derailment had happened near Chicago, San Fransico, LA, NYC, Philly... rather than a rural and largely white town in Northeastern Ohio, would he or the administration have paid more attention to it?

At a conference on the 13^th Secretary Buttigieg, aka, the “Jimmy Swaggert of Climate Clergy" did note that the construction workers doing “good-paying jobs” in “a neighborhood of color” often “don’t look like they came from anywhere near the neighborhood” they’re working in. And what does that have to do with East Palestine, Ohio residents’ lives, be they white or black? It is apparent Biden’s Transportation Secretary, like many of his appointments are in over their heads. So, there’s that.