Going Off the Rails
The Ohio Toxic Train Derailment
Whittling Away Safety Measures
You would think the railroad companies would be eager to avoid a toxic train derailment. But if doing so interferes with their profits, they’re just not too gung-ho. Used by most American railroads, PSR (precision scheduled railroading) is a business philosophy/operational model which focuses on cost-saving measures at the expense of safety. For the sake of hyper efficiency, they keep the trains running for as long as possible, and with as little downtime as possible. But downtime is when the trains are supposed to be inspected. Under this foolhardy plan – which values shareholders over stakeholders - over 40% of equipment maintenance workers were cut, and over 20,000 railroad workers were laid off in 2019 alone. This is why inspection times have been so drastically cut.
Carmen, the freight car mechanics who are responsible for the train’s safety, are extremely frustrated because they no longer have the time to properly inspect the train cars. It usually was only two minutes to start with, but now that time has been cut by 75% down to less than thirty seconds. Not only is this very risky, but it’s impossible too. So the train companies are now having the trains inspected before they even hit the rail yard by the train crew. This is completely inappropriate because they’re not qualified to perform them. They do this because carmen are specifically required to perform them unless they’re not available. So they set up this rudimentary pit stop just to save a little money and time.
In response the FRA (Federal Railroad Administration) sent letters to the rail companies’ CEOs, asking them not to take advantage of that loophole, and to actually perform the safety inspections. But they didn’t listen, nor did they have to. This is because of regulatory capture, which is when the industry being regulated is more powerful than the regulators.
Paving the Way Towards Disaster
Then there’s increasing train lengths. Between 2008 and 2017, the average train length was 75 cars. The FRA classifies a train of 150 cars (1.9miles long) as “very long.” And the GAO (Government Accountability Office) has stated that some trains are even three miles long now. And it’s not uncommon for crews as tiny as only two rail workers to be operating these behemoths.
Obama’s administration wanted trains carrying tons of hazardous materials to start using an ECP (electronically controlled pneumatic brakes) system which brakes all the cars simultaneously; instead of the Civil War-era braking system (which is a car-by-car braking system) still used today. The rail companies performed some major pushback against these new safety measures, lobbying against them. Trump’s administration would repeal this requirement in 2018, citing it’s high costs.
Considering all that, can it be any wonder there are over 1,000 train derailments a year?
Train Derailment in East Palestine Ohio
In February of 2023 a Norfolk Southern freight train 1.9 miles/150 cars long and carrying over 1.8 million gallons of waste made its way from Madison, Illinois to Conway, Pennsylvania. Hydrogen chloride, phosgene, butyl acrylate, ethylhexyl acrylate, ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, and vinyl chloride were some of the hazardous materials being transported in twenty of those cars.
Just over fifty of those cars would derail in East Palestine, Ohio right long the Ohio-Pennsylvania border on February third. Almost 2,000 residents were evacuated within a two mile radius. Hoping to avoid five tank cars from exploding, they burned off 100,000 gallons of vinyl chloride, causing a massive plume of black smoke in America’s latest toxic train derailment.
When you burn vinyl chloride, you release dioxins which are incredibly toxic. And those dioxins would travel miles far away from East Palestine, affecting people and other animals with an array of ailments. There were myriad reports of people suffering from severe rashes, coughing, burning eyes, lung problems, etc. Animals have suffered and died too. Many are worried about the vinyl chloride residue as well. Many citizens now want to leave, but their homes have been severely devalued and now they’re stuck. We are at the mercy of greedy corporations with no meaningful oversight.
Dubious Concern
Stacking the odds in their favor, Norfolk Southern would hire CTEH(Center for Toxicology and Environmental Health) to do environmental testing. CTEH, known primarily for toxicology monitoring for Big Oil, is notorious for downplaying public health dangers after disasters caused by corporations. From the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill (well over 3 million barrels of oil spilled into the ocean), to the toxic coal ash in Tennessee in 2008, CTEH is an industry lapdog, who’s paid to provide the results corporations are looking for. The public’s safety is definitely not their priority, but corporate interests most certainly are. Corporations utilize places like CTEH as a part of their disinformation campaigns to help thwart lawsuits, sensible regulation, and other public health protections.
The NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) is currently conducting an investigation which isn’t expected to be completed until March 2024. And that’s a good thing. Environmental disasters require time, so as to have the damage properly assessed, to understand the long-term consequences, and hopefully to reflect on mistakes and discover humane solutions.
This is an old story we – the public – know all too well. So what’s the cost, the real cost? The $400 million Norfolk Southern lost? The people of East Palestine suffering from having their homes devalued, along with worrying about potential health problems in the future? I think it runs even deeper. I think this latest environmental disaster has a spiritual toll, especially taken along with all the others.
It puts yet another dent in America’s reputation. It makes the citizens even more cynical as they witness how our government is essentially controlled by corporations. Perhaps worst of all, it shows how corporations always tend to value money (no matter what the cost) over human life.
It’s a very old story…and a very sad one.
Much Love, Tim Stickle – 7/21/23