EDITORIAL: Government must tighten rail regulations
Feb. 19—While the nation's eyes have been fixed on the skies in the search for Chinese spy balloons and other unidentified flying objects, they've overlooked a darker, more immediate danger in the nation's heartland: the sight of a dark mushroom cloud over East Palestine, Ohio, where federal officials intentionally vaporized thousands of gallons of hazardous chemicals from several tanker cars involved in a Feb. 4 train derailment.
The derailment, the fact that the train was carrying dangerous chemicals through the heart of a small town, and the government's response all raise serious questions, not just for the 4,700 residents of East Palestine but for the nation at large. If it could happen there, can it happen anywhere?
The disaster began to unfold the night of Feb. 3, when about 50 cars of a Norfolk Southern train derailed, setting off a fire that lasted for days. Between 10 and 20 of the derailed cars — reports vary — contained hazardous chemicals including butyl acrylate and vinyl chloride.
Vinyl chloride is a carcinogen that becomes a gas at room temperature. It used to make PVC piping, wire and cable coating, and car parts.
The entire town was evacuated, and, fearing a major explosion, officials incinerated many of the cars containing the hazardous chemicals, sending a huge plume of smoke into the air. While those same officials say it is safe for residents to return to their homes, many people who live in the town are reporting headaches and eye pain, and many animals are falling ill.
"Now that we are entering into a longer-term phase of this, people are going to be concerned about the long-term chronic exposure that comes at lower levels," Karen Dannemiller, a professor at The Ohio State University, told National Public Radio.
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency says it's not sure how many chemicals spilled into the town's soil and water.
"Initially, with most environmental spills, it is difficult to determine the exact amount of material that has been released into the air, water and soil," said James Lee, media relations manager for the Ohio EPA. "The assessment phase that will occur after the emergency is over will help determine that information."
The question for the rest of the country is whether the disaster in Ohio can happen elsewhere. The news is not encouraging.
Roughly 4.5 million tons of toxic chemicals are shipped by rail each year, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, with about 12,000 rail cars carrying hazardous materials through cities and towns every day. There are about 1,700 derailments each year.
Safety is often an afterthought. In 2020, for example, the U.S. Department of Transportation approved a rule allowing liquified natural gas to be shipped via rail with no additional safety precautions. Trains can now move 100 or more tank cars with 30,000 of LNG, according to the rule.
The decision was opposed by everyone from unions to fire departments to the National Traffic Safety Bureau.
"The risks of catastrophic LNG releases in accidents is too great not to have operational controls in place before large blocks of tank cars and unit trains proliferate," the NTSB wrote in its comment on the proposed rule. The rule still stands, despite promises to amend it by the Biden Administration.
The loosening of rail regulation comes as the industry institutes thousands of profit-oriented layoffs. The number of rail workers nationwide has dipped below 200,000, the lowest level ever, down from 1 million at its peak.
"They have cut the hell out of the workforce, and there are big plans to cut it further," said Ron Kaminkow, an Amtrak locomotive engineer who used to work for Norfolk Southern. "Just because the rail companies are profitable doesn't mean they're healthy.
"The Palestine wreck is the tip of the iceberg and a red flag," said Kaminkow, secretary for the Railroad Workers United, a nonprofit labor group. "If something is not done, then it's going to get worse, and the next derailment could be cataclysmic."
