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Pinch of Politics: A Derailed Train in Ohio and How it Affects You

Mayahuel Crane
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Texas chapter.

So what happened?

On February 3 at around 9 p.m., a train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. Of the 150 cars, 38 derailed and caught fire. The train was carrying tons of toxic flammable chemicals, igniting a fire whose smoke plunged East Palestine into darkness. In efforts to ensure there wouldn’t be a major explosion, there has been a controlled release of the fumes into the town. After the derailment, 1,500 to 2,000 residents of East Palestine were made to evacuate. Schools and roads were closed.

The Environmental Protection Agency reported that around 20 rail cars were reported to have been carrying hazardous materials. 

What toxic gasses? How does that affect me?

The following were released into the air, surface soil, and surface waters:

Vinyl chloride

Symptoms from exposure include weakness, exhaustion, abdominal pain, gastrointestinal bleeding, frostbite, and liver cancer.

butyl acrylate

Symptoms from exposure include irritation of the eyes, skin, and upper respiratory system, and breathing difficulty.

Ethylhexyl acrylate

Can react violently when combined with strong oxidants and can form explosive mixtures with air at high temperatures, contact can cause burning/irritation of eyes, skin, nose, and throat linked to cancer, shortness of breath.

ethylene glycol mono butyl ethers

Highly flammable, vapors irritate eyes and nose, and ingestion or skin contact causes a headache, nausea, vomiting, and dizziness.

Isobutylene

Highly flammable, frostbite, and dizziness. Its container may rupture violently and rocket under exposure to fire or heat

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What happened after?

The spill affected about 8 miles of stream, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and, as of February 8, killed an estimated 3,500 fish.

On February 12, after monitoring the air, the Environmental Protection Agency said that it could not trace contaminants at “levels of concern” in and around East Palestine. However, since the derailment, pets and animals in the town have mysteriously gotten sick, and people have begun reporting asthma-like symptoms.

Norfolk Southern, the company responsible for the derailed train, offered East Palestine $25,000 for damages to the town. 5,000 people live in East Palestine, meaning Norfolk, the $55 billion company, is offering each person $5.

“Two years ago SMART [a transportation union] President Jeremy Ferguson warned anyone that would listen that something like this was going to happen. My fear is that these corporations have so much money and political influence that nothing is going to change.”

– Aaron Gordon, reporter with Motherboard

Could it have been prevented?

Absolutely. 

It’s common knowledge among railroad workers that the train 32-N (or 32-Nasty as it was nicknamed) was very dangerous. 

In 2018-2019 railroad giants lobbied in DC in favor of deregulation in the railroad industry. Because of this, railroad companies were able to cut corners. They reduced the amount of safety protocols that were necessary to operate a train, reduced staff, and in some instances even pushed for only one staff member in a two mile long train. 

Some of these practices were the reasoning behind the railroad strikes of late 2022, strikes that were shut down by the Biden Administration.

Sources:

https://www.npr.org/2023/02/16/1157333630/east-palestine-ohio-train-derailment

https://www.nytimes.com/article/ohio-train-derailment.html

https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npg/default.html

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-signs-bill-block-us-railroad-strike-2022-12-02/

Mayahuel Crane is a writer and the Marketing and Public Relations Director at the Her Campus at Texas chapter. She is responsible for all new member recruitment, organizing open socials, fundraising, designing/ordering chapter merchandise, heading a committee, securing sponsorships, communicating with companies, the creation/growth of the Her Campus at Texas mentorship program, and general marketing of the chapter. She also created “Pinch of Politics,” a Her Campus news segment dedicated to making knowledge about current events accessible. Outside of Her Campus, Maya is an active member of her community and currently works for Justice for Children and EcoRise, two non-profit organizations dedicated to correcting the systems that harm the most vulnerable. She teaches elementary school students about mental health through Project Yellow and is a member of two pre-law organizations: Phi Delta Phi and Minority Women Pursuing Law. Maya has won “Best Feature for Current Events and News” twice for her “Pinch of Politics” articles and has successfully sustained her segment for over a year. She is a second-year Government and Mexican American Latino Studies double major at the University of Texas at Austin. Mayahuel is a huge political buff and loves to research and write in her free time. She also loves concerts, being with friends, and anything pink.