I have lived within 25 miles of the Ohio River most of my life and never been in it. The area around the WV panhandle is terrible—used to be nothing but steel mills and power plants dumping whatever they had.
Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) US Railway Industry Catches Fire; Investigations and Lawsuits Incoming This one’s a doozy (and it’s not the vinyl chloride kicking in). Over two weeks ago, a Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio — spilling highly toxic materials. Fish, dead. Humans, pissed. Norfolk, dodging. Last week, Norfolk issued a letter stating, “We will not walk away, East Palestine” — except Norfolk Southern reps skipped a town hall just the day before, and Ohioans were rightfully irritated. Since the accident, several lawsuits have been filed against Norfolk alleging negligence, including a class-action lawsuit. Why carry hazardous materials by rail in the first place? It’s required by law, and train derailments are common, with ~1,700 each year in the US (mostly with little harm). Focus has turned to railway companies’ growing earnings. Operating profit margins of the five largest US railroad operators grew from 29% to 41% over the last 10 years (thank cost cuts). The result: Happy investors (railroad stocks outperforming), overworked employees and angry customers + citizens (Ohioans, get out your pitchforks). Here’s what railroad critics are pointing out: 1/ Trains are getting too long. The longer the trains, the higher the profits — but the more dangerous they become. The derailed train had 149 cars and the feds classify trains with 150+ cars as “very long.” 2/ Cost cuts have gone too far. Large railroads have cut over 40K workers since 2016. One Iowa state legislative director argues that safety inspectors were reduced — despite trains getting longer. Norfolk’s accident rates have increased in each of the past four years. 3/ Not enough investments into railroads. Last year, Norfolk invested $2B into railways and operations, and returned $18B to shareholders over the past five years (double that of railroad investments). 4/ More safety measures are needed. Last week’s report found that the train derailed from an overheated wheel bearing. One rail worker union is questioning the drop in maintenance standards. In 2017, railroad companies pushed to lengthen when the breaks of inactive rail cars were checked — a change that was estimated to save the industry $600M over 10 years. About Norfolk: Railroad analyst Anthony Hatch said, “they are insured, they are in good financial condition, but it is a reputational hit” (FT). Catch up: US railroad stocks find themselves with a unique problem: being too profitable
5 people died in plane crash from CTEH environmental consultants going up to Columbus to the metal plant that was on fire monday. https://www.kark.com/news/local-new...ible-crash-near-clinton-national-airport/amp/
I was told today by let’s say someone in the know at the Ohio EPA that this is 100x worse than they are letting on
Hope no one is remotely surprised in 10 years when we hear about all the deformed babies and mass cancer cases that will be directly traced back to this
They have to stabilize the spread by excavating the contaminated soil ASAP. Every time it rains or floods, it can create both surface run off and a plume in gradient groundwater. The fish kills were major, so no idea how the local streams were affected. The North Fork Little Beaver Creek flows directly from East Palestine about 15-20 miles to the Ohio River. A huge tract of land east of East Palestine is Pennsylvania state game lands, essentially a state park that allows hunting.
Original estimations we’re about 1500-3k cuyd of contaminated soil needing to be removed it’s been revised to 20k + in the last week and will still grow
“Yes, I believe that third arm growing out of your rib cage was a pre-existing condition. Has nothing to do with this incident.”
I really can't imagine anything more fitting... once again, The Simpsons was a decade ahead in predicting something.
Waste shipment has begun. https://www.npr.org/2023/02/26/1159...te-shipments-from-ohio-derailment-will-resume https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/02/26/us/ohio-train-derailment-east-palestine-sunday/index.html 15 truck loads of solid waste to Belleville, Michigan. 2 million gallons of firefighting water to Harris County Texas. Remaining amounts to an injection well in Vickery, Ohio (near Lake Erie west of Cleveland seems safe?) and solid waste to an incinerator in East Liverpool (same county as the derailment).
nah deep well is legit, and an excellent way to dispose of haz wastes. Only thing you have to worry about is the underground aquifers getting contaminated and destroying the drinking supply for a whole region nbd
Ok, I'm all for nationalization of the railroads, putting an end to (probably) preventable derailments, and implementation of proper safety precautions, but I will NEVER pray for Ohio. That is a line I won't cross.
welp, it's been nice knowing you fellas. that's one county over. hope that shit is on the opposite side of springfield
i found it incredibly unsurprising ohio has some of the worst railroads in the nation. but the ones by me (not the same line as the derailment above) are incredibly nice.