Train with toxic chemicals derails – huge environmental crime in the US US concerned about legalization of Israeli settlements

It was February 3, 2023, when 50 freight train cars derailed in the eastern Ohio city of East Palestine. The problem: The train was carrying a very delicate cargo, writes the New York Times.

Rumors are swirling on social media that it is one of the worst environmental disasters in recent years. And suddenly another reporter is arrested who reports live. The thriller at a glance.

The evacuation

Eastern Palestine is located about 90 miles east of Cleveland and about 50 miles northwest of Pittsburgh in the state of Pennsylvania.

After the train cars derailed around 9 p.m., the 5,000 residents witnessed a massive blaze before being enveloped in a dark cloud of smoke.

Immediately after the accident, about 2,000 people were evacuated from eastern Palestine before Ohio Governor Mike DeWine expanded the evacuation zone three days after the accident.

On Feb. 8, the governor’s office said those affected would be allowed to return home once measurements no longer showed worrying levels of pollutants.

The poison

About 20 of the 50 derailed cars had questionable substances on board, writes the New York Times. Vinyl chloride, butyl acrylate, ethylhexyl acrylate and ethylene glycol monobutyl ether escaped in various physical states.

Vinyl chloride – a poisonous, flammable gas – is extremely dangerous to humans. It is used in the manufacture of PVC pipes. People who come into contact with the chemical are at risk of liver, esophagus or skin damage. Vinyl chloride is also considered a carcinogen.

After the wagons derailed, the authorities decided to burn hundreds of thousands of liters of vinyl chloride in a controlled manner – so that the train did not turn into a giant bomb. And that’s exactly what American climate activist and aspiring climate scientist Sophia Kianni brought to the scene. She writes about the accident on Twitter:

Since the gas, but also oil, has now entered the Ohio River basin, millions of people may be threatened by the gas plumes, she continues.

The train’s operator, Norfolk Southern, and environmental authorities had examined the air in about 290 homes by Feb. 13 and found no life-threatening concentrations of vinyl chloride floating around, the New York Times reports.

But people continued to complain about the smell of chlorine and smoke in the air, as well as headaches, Kianni said. In addition, 180 households were still waiting for an air check.

Area

And not only people, but also the environment can be permanently damaged by the released gases and oils. According to the New York Times, there are concerns about air, soil and water pollution.

The environmental authorities say it is not yet possible to estimate the extent of the pollution. At the request of CNN, the Environment Agency wrote:

Not only are the spilled oils dangerous for the environment, the gases can also be questionable. “Vinyl chloride poses a specific risk because it contains a number of chlorine molecules that can form very dangerous by-products. And these often remain very persistent in the environment,” Richard Peltier, a professor of environmental health sciences at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, told CNN.

Potential contamination in the water and in the Ohio River is of particular concern because major farms in the region draw their water from the river. Local residents, meanwhile, shared photos of dead fish and frogs in local streams or dead chickens in gardens. In addition, even dogs and foxes would be used.

The New York Times writes that precautions have been taken with regard to water services. People are currently encouraged to only use bottled water.

Meanwhile, local residents have filed a class action lawsuit against Norfolk Southern.

The arrested reporter

So, as people are evacuated and frogs die, another oddity occurred in eastern Palestine last Wednesday: At a press conference on Feb. 7, a reporter covering the train wreck was arrested.

According to a police spokesperson, reporter Evan Lambert has been charged with disorderly conduct and trespassing, the New York Times writes.

Lambert waited for a press conference to begin at 3 p.m. that day. But the date was moved to 5 p.m. relatively spontaneously. The later date coincided with Lambert’s planned go live, Lambert’s employer tells News Nation. Authorities say Lambert refused to stop the recording in time.

The reporter began his presentation as scheduled at 5 p.m. away from the stage. He also stopped presenting as soon as the governor started speaking, News Nation said. But the reporter was still a thorn in the side of four neighborhood cops — he’d be out of line, they said in the .

In a video broadcast by WKYC Studios, Lambert can be heard replying, “I’m just doing my job.” He then asked the officers not to touch him. Shortly afterwards, the journalist was pushed to the ground and arrested, according to video footage from WKYC Studios.

Shortly after his release, Lambert aired an interview in which the reporter says “No journalist expects to be arrested doing his job”, noting that he could not speak in detail about the incident as the prosecution is still ongoing.

The arrest caused much dismay in the American media world.

(con/yam)