Credit where credit is due. Fox News Jesse Waters has been holding the spotlight on the government and railroad officials who have been downplaying the issues after the toxic chemical spill and explosions in the town of East Palestine, Ohio. {Direct Rumble Link}
The residents of the community are reporting several ongoing health issues and a community townhall was scheduled today. However, executives with Norfolk Southern Railroad cancelled their attendance, leaving the citizens of the community frustrated. Additionally, the railway contracted air and water testing with a company well known for minimizing the effects of environmental disasters to satisfy its corporate employers {Go Deep}.
Residents are being asked to sign liability waivers indemnifying the railroad, prior to the private testing of air and water quality. This just seems very sketchy, all things considered and raises additional questions from the residents. The federal EPA is not providing any assurances or answers. Jesse Waters outlines some of the issues tonight during an interview with Ohio Congressman Bill Johnson. WATCH:
The opening monologue from both Jesse Waters and Tucker Carlson stayed on this issue tonight. Given the nature of the effort to downplay the concern of the residents from both federal and state officials, it is good to see Carlson and Waters keeping the attention on this impacted community.
Someone on the Twitter brought up a good point… It would be nice to see Ohio congressman Jim Jordan get involved to support Bill Johnson in this district. Jim Jordan has a lot of power in Washington DC. Perhaps together they could pressure FEMA to engage.
Sorry folks! You’re on your own.
Vote correctly in the next election and you’ll even get mints on your pillows down at the free hotel — if it isn’t already full of the illegals we’ve shipped in to replace you. In which case, please die and do so quickly.
I wonder if all the supposedly “homeless” people camping out at airports are illegals.
probly not, the illegal aliens get better accomodations
at your expense, natch
They’re only homeless, because they left their homes in Guatemala
Kustie, that’s a cruel remark and I’m at once shocked and ashamed to see it on this message board.
I had thought that we’re better than that.
Overall the people who are suffering voted both ways, and that end of Ohio is not a liberal bastion. And IT DOESN’T MATTER how they voted. They don’t deserve this.
Please reconsider – and join me in prayer for them.
No.
Sometimes the truth sucks and hurts. Kustie is only speaking the truth. Look around.
Yes, vote often. Or as Eddie Bernays said (paraphrasing) Democracy’s a wunnerful thing so long as the PTB get to tape the names on the voting levers.
When America finally gets subsumed by Trotskyism, the Patriot community will rue its undue fealty to an 8th grade Civics mentality. We’re way past checks and balances and the cavalry doesn’t do toxic clouds.
… or shut up, work for a dramatically reduced wage, waive all benefits, and sign this Hold Harmless agreement
ain’t that the truth.
The railroad did not attend the meeting with the community tonight, claiming they fear for the safety of their employees. Yet they have employees on site dealing with the problem. Not a good look.
“….they fear for the safety of their employees.” and to hell with the health and safety of the people who live there. Got it.
I think they meant they were afraid they’d get beat up at the town meeting
The comment still fits.
They are guilty, they know it, and they are cowards.
They need a better PR firm.
yep, D.C. isn’t helping them.
… and not the firm currently representing UFO balloon things
Two different things:
Those brave people risking their own safety who work for the railroad and who are trying to deal with this disaster on the ground are in one kind of unavoidable danger. The job(s) must be done – and they’re doing all they can. There are no doubt men in HAZMAT suits with wives and kids of their own out there…
Meanwhile, in this day and age, with the potential for a riot in close quarters putting those who would show up at a town meeting in a separate kind of potential danger, the company did the right thing. I don’t know if they plan a live Q and A via zoom or whether they could get a big screen monitor and cameras into the town meeting or not but that would be appropriate.
Cooler heads need to prevail in this volatile situation. Who knows – maybe the paid brownshirt thugs already have a plan to show up – they’re omnipresent at a moment’s notice anywhere there’s a crisis. Can’t let one go to waste – without adding to the pain and suffering already felt or finding an excuse to steal and destroy.
Oh please, just stop already…..I fail to see the difference between this and a school board meeting.
Frontline RR workers are supposed to be trained with regards to the hazardous materials they are in contact with in the course of their jobs.
These corporate types all have armed security.
Right now everyone is finger pointing.
We have City, County, State and Feds involved in truly what borders on an event of National Significance but DHS is focus on Black History Month, Super Bowl Security and supporting Ukraine.
It seems the definition has changed…but if US officials showed up, DHS could have provided security so Mayorkas…failed again.
They threw up fences around the Capitol, in a big hurry.
https://sgp.fas.org/crs/homesec/R43522.pdf
There could have been multiple agencies to provide security. The Ohio Emergency Management organization is heavily involved or is supposed to be as far as response and recovery goes.. They could have provided security. And should have.
The railroads fall under DOT so it was well within the DHS pervue, to show up. The FBI comes under DOJ, which is involved in DHS. So is the Department of Agriculture, The Department of the Interior and all their tree huggers…any number of federal agencies could have provided support.
Personally, brown shirts aside and I never advocate for violence of any type, these people needed to ‘feel the wrath’ of the citizens affected, at the town hall.
I don’t advocate the feds taking over the State’s obligation but just who do you think is going to pay for the clean up? The rail company has insurance…their lawyers will be fighting this for years….state and federal dollars will pay for the clean up in near term.
Suddenly, all the people who need to be talking, are silent.
Once again, the state and feds have let down the average American. The buck ultimately stops at 1600.
I get easily triggered when I perceive, either right or wrong, stuff that affects the average citizen and the big guys, avoiding the music.
More microaggressions committed by the RR than I can bear
your perceptions were spot on.
They take a calculated risk by reducing personnel on the train, and when the risk becomes a tragedy, it’s never their fault.
Interesting observation. Way to make the actual victims look like crazy, violent, unreasonable people, instead of the victims they actually are.
Wouldn’t surprise me. It’s all about the narrative.
claiming they fear for the safety of their employees . . .
which employees are they talking about? CEO, CFO, who?
A nation that can no longer extend a hand to the imperilled in its midst has fallen into talmudic intelligibility. When the train is speeding towards the child on the RR tracks, there isn’t enough time to get an indemnification clause from your attorney.
Life is a high-wire act often requiring split-second decisions of questionable legal veracity. Yet character compels. You either have to breathe deeply through it or wait to exhale while the CYA documents are being drafted.
What is “talmudic intelligibility”?
Their blue collar workers can get sick and die … but the white collars they’d send to the TownHall … well … they need special protections.
If only a Republican like Trump would have won the 2020 election then the press would be all over this thing! Every single day we see the catastrophic results of a stolen election. Please, dear Lord, help these people!
The irony here Ron- Let their message sink in “They are afraid for their safety.”
Well, lucky for those railroad execs they get to choose…WHAT ABOUT THE PEOPLE OF EAST PALESTINE? Rail execs? What about their safety? You know for which they too fear.
there are books and training on what to do when this happens (PR wise) — that the anger grows if you do the wrong thing — NS has done all the wrong things. I hope they pay the price — but prob. wont.
Jesse is America’s Neil Oliver. He’s surpassed Tucker in style and substance, in my opinion.
On fire lately.
Speaking of Tucker, he covered a Christian revival that’s been happening at a college in Kentucky. Sounds like the real deal. Asbury College is the name of the place. If Tucker and Jesse are being controlled, not a chance giving airtime to a Christian revival would happen.
“If Tucker and Jesse are being controlled…” It’s called “controlled opposition” — just enough to make you believe they are the leading edge of free speech when, in fact, they are actors performing their craft within the confines of what Fox News allows them say. Remember, Paul Ryan is a member of the Board of Directors of Fox Corp. the parent company of Fox News.
I hate Fox..phony baloney..
“I hate Fox..phony baloney..”
Hmmm.
If your a Democrat or hate free speech I can see why you would hate FOX news,
I think it’s nice seeing and hearing FOX news be serious and address corruption .
Nothing is phony about this;
The fox anchors allowed the truth without interrupting.
….
If Paul Ryan, a member of the Board of Directors , was fired it would be a more fair and balanced news show.
We need a neo “Jesus Freak” movement … like the one in which I committed my life to Christ in 1972
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_movement
Praise God, the Asbury revival is still ongoing. May God bless and annoint them with His fresh oil.
I think it’s the real deal, too.
Jesse can never come close to Tucker’s brilliance or eloquence. And he wastes my time with snippets from old movies….
I do record him, but usually erase without watching. I don’t dislike him, but his arrogance doesn’t have a place in my heart. JMHO.
yep, undeserved arrogance, but mostly foppery. I will never get into Manhattan pretentious humor.
Not in the same class as Carlson
I’m so glad we have Tucker.
We all should be disgusted by the incompetence and inaction of the Biden administration.
Where is Gretta Thunberg, John Kerry, Al Gore blowing a whistle and demanding accountability from .
the Biden administration.
Where’s FEMA?
The FedGov denied ANY HELP to Ohio…That means no FEMA, no hazmat, no disaster funds…Nothing.
He is a child trying to stand out in an adult world – doesn’t quite make it.
Until he has Karl Rove or Crispy creme Christie on his show aagain for an “unbiased” opinion. LOL
I am a Licensed ( AL, GA) Professional Chemical Process Engineer.
I live in AL, but during the week live in a tiny apartment in as small town in central KY with a military base storing WWII and Korean era chemical nerve agent weapons. The project where I work is destroying these old weapons.
As to Gov. DeWine saying yesterday about volital organic compounds, ” nothing to see here folks, go back to your homes, move along.”
At the plant where I work fugitive VOCs are strictly regulated by the EPA under the RCRA act.
At least anually, every pipe joint (flanges with gaskets, screwed pipe, some welds, etc.) are “sniffed” with a detection instrument wand to determine if ANY fugitive VOCs are seeping from any joint or seal (on valves or pump shafts, etc.) There are lists of chemicals published by the EPA that are each tightly regulated for fugitive VOC emissions.
I can assure you every chemical whose name I have heard so far is a “listed chemical.”
From afar, and without any technical info, it is hard to make any technical determination.
I can only say if it were my responsibility to remediate this site, I would have stabilized any tank car not leaking, bermed with leak absorbing material any leakers, and then brought in tank trucks to start pumping out each tank, prior to righting it back onto the tracks so it could be moved.
This would of course cost TIME and $$! writ large.
To me it appears the government nor the local government, nor the railroad wanted to take the time or money to do it right, and have sacrificed the community to get it done fast.
My personal experience with just one small flat bed delivery truck carrying Agricultural chemicals that tipped over, the truck was removed, the road asphalt and dirt was dug up, all was mixed and placed on a plastic sheet on a nearby powerline right of way, and was thoroughly sampled for average concentration before being trucked out of state to a treatment facility.
All of the people whose property adjoined the roadway were compensated for health effects. This was a small flatbed truck.
You can imagine what this is going to run to.
The.home owners should sign NOTHING without a lawyer looking out for their interests reading it first.
Alfred L. Brown, P. E.
Excellent post, Mr. Brown!
I have vague recollections of studying RCRA and CERCLA, the “Superfund” law, in college.
Off the cuff, do you think CERCLA will be invoked at this site?
You work with some really nasty stuff up in Kentucky.
Please work safely.
Regards,
John
https://kanekoa.substack.com/p/east-palestine-toxicology-test-relies
Unfortunately, the firm conducting the toxicology tests have already convinced 340 residents to sign something.
Those only indemnify the testing company though, n’est-ce pas?
Those 340 or more citizens need a lawyer who will tell them: You cannot sign your rights away. You still have them.
Given the duress of the situation itself, such documents signed under duress are a thin paper curtain for any lawyer worth his salt to break through in court – of course, in front of a competent judge who is not compromised.
Basic contract law requires informed consent and also an absence of duress.
Caddisfly is correct.
Read any good 1st year law review or bar prep outline on contract law for a good summary of the basics.
My favorite is the case law which basically says that if one party with a lot of subject matter knowledge writes a complicated contract and gets another less informed party to sign it – any vagaries will be construed against the party who wrote it.
Watch the movie Dark Waters and stay tuned …
Just a quick note from a country lawyer
Sounds like I had imagined it should go, roughly, though I thought with cranes the rail bed could be cleared more quickly.
Do you think they could have set up a bypass to permit the work to proceed at a sober pace?
Railroad’s usually bring in empty tankers or trucks to transfer the chemicals, even if the tanker is leaking like Mr Brown stated. I would hope they didn’t do this due to wanting to save money.
we live in a cover your ass world. Nobody wants to do a good job, just cover their ass. The incompetence of this regime is off the charts.
The explanation they gave for the burn – for what it’s worth – is that they feared a huge explosion from the large volume of product in a tanker car (or several).
Their rationale was that it was unstable and could blow, and so they couldn’t risk the time for an unloading operation … accept it or not, I haven’t heard enough reporting on that decision-making to judge … although I’m entirely open to the likelihood it was more of a cost-saving decision than anything else — the desire to avoid a complex and costly tanker-by-tanker unloading operation
With a confined volatile like that, a containerized explosion would be very great and would send steel shrapnel flying as much as a half mile away (it was said)
So they drained a lot of product out into a trench and ignited it there, where it was uncontained
Yeah, it sent that mushroom cloud up into the stratosphere, but the nature of the explosion may have been more of a big WHOOMP than a big BOOM explosion
Leave the gas running just a bit too long on your gas grill before your electric igniter finally catches and WHOOMP — that kinda thing — (how are those eyebrows?)
I’m not trying to be an apologist, but consider the night footage of all that product burning off in that red, fiery trench. All of that is product that DIDN’T go up in an initial explosion, like if it was constrained in a tanker car and went up all at once.
Get a big box of wooden matches … break all the match heads off into a big pile … toss a lit match onto it … WHOOMP
Now get another box and break ’em all again … but this time don’t make a pile … instead, tamp them all into a length of galvanized steel pipe with threaded end caps at both ends … run a cloth out of a small hole in one end for a fuse … congratulations, you’ve just made a pipe bomb
light that and I bet your don’t get a WHOOMP, you get a BOOM … a BIG boom
again, I’m not trying to be an apologist, I’m just explaining a small snippet of the reasoning I heard on the news reports
PS … See: PG&E, the CAPUC, The CA State Legislature, The Office of the CA Gov., the CARB, the CA DWR … speaking of ass covering 24/7/365.25
Thanks Al. Took a class to be an OSHA Safety Officer for a company I once worked for here in Oregon. While we didn’t get into the nitty gritty of what you were trained to do, it was made abundantly clear that hazardous chemicals spills were to be handled according to the Material Safety Data Sheets and that we were to be familiar with those data sheets prior to any potential spills.
I learned a lot from them and am appalled at the way this incident is being handled.
You are dead on about those there not signing anything prior to their attorney reading it.
Trying to get the average citizen affected to accept checks etc, is so low….manipulating vulnerable people at their absolute worst day of their life.
Cat got a slap on the wrist from OSHA. on this one so far:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/nov/26/caterpillar-illinois-foundry-death-poor-training-work-conditions
I appreciate your input. I know far more than the average person, about federal DHS response but not nearly enough, and less about EPA with regards to this stuff. Your one experience is very interesting! Thank you for sharing, sincerely!
About taking the time to do it right, I wonder how many freight trains were backed up, cancelled and or diverted, due to this disaster? In the cascade of events, I imagine a lot of other companies were financially affected. So throw that in the lawsuit pathway.
All of these companies handling/transporting hazardous chemicals, have “Disaster Plans”. And in their response, took the cheap way out. Recovery will be interesting.
Whoever was looking at “Risk versus Threat”, was looking from the statistical cold hearted money angle of business and not the human lives and property affected. IMHO, and some ignorance, they favored money.
While I hope the insurance costs rise for said people/companies who caused/allowed this…the average citizen will pay higher prices for the cost of transport, overall. Business is good at spending other people’s money.
Over the last few days, I have likened this to Times Beach and Loves Canal.
It will take some time to know if the eco systems along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers are affected and the same with the humans.
Here in CA … we simply place a Prop. 65 label on … well … EVERYTHING!!!
https://www.p65warnings.ca.gov/
Gavin Newsom would just mandate a label on the giant toxic chemical burn cloud. And a label on the groundwater. And a label on your homes (within a 1-mile radius – evidently).
because here in CA … everything … everything … gives you cancer. There’s no cure, there’s no answer.
But in Palestine, OH … pretty much everything … on and under the ground WILL give you cancer.
OK, but doing a little reading (dangerous, I know) Vinyl Chloride Monomer has a boiling temp at atmospheric pressure of 8 deg F. I’m having a problem seeing that significant quanities of liquid could run-off. As far as gas toxiicity, it seems like the main conern is that it is carcinogenic for occupational exposure, so OSHA regs are strict on use of PPE. As a liquid it is slightly less dense than water, and has low solubility in water. So again, I don’t think liquid VCM is the issue.
It is however, highly flamable with the explosive range 3-30% concentration in air. So I can see the point of igniting it and letting it burn., rather than risking explosion. But the combustion products themselves are nasty, including phosgene and HCl. So obviously concentrated amounts of that in air is a problem. As far as “little chernobyl”, that sounds like media BS to me. Though I guess there were other chemical tank cars in that consist besides VCM and that hasn’t been talked/written about much (I guess some sort of Acetone and maybe other stuff?)
I kind of doubt a railroad is going to be able to handle a major spill. I’m assuming Ohio Dept of Health has a proptocol to assign an incident commander who would have command and control. I would see the railroad as primarily providing technical support on RoW or rolling stock issues.
Hell… I’d be wary of signing anything – even it had been scrutinized by “my” attorney. It seems anyone can be bought. The price to purchase a home town attorney, or several, will be orders-of-magnitude less than a properly conducted clean-up and remediation to the local residence.
Well said Alfred. I deal with RCRA in my line of work too. I am also versed, not an expert, but versed in incident response. I said the same thing about their decisions- it was the fastest not the best or safest way. I was asking a friend the same questions “why not contain, isolate, seal leaks, transfer and then remediate?” Well because as you said- it takes time and more money to do that- you can’t reopen the yard quickly if you do it right.
Thanks, A Brown. Excellent summary.
Your knowledge is impressive, an appreciated contribution to the comments here.
Thank you, sir! This was my exact thought train, being up in years, and having lived through several of these kinds of spills, and having witnessed remediation of same.
Nobody gives a schitt anymore. We have become a lost, selfish, callous people, whose souls have been replaced with a collection of appetites walking around with skin on.
Why focus on peoples reactions versus the quantitative assessment of the amount of chemicals that have been released into the environment and they’re known harm in chemical reactions
Why not both?
Q. Is this a hazardous substance?
A. Yes
Q. Then why can you spill and burn a million pounds of it with no environmental consequences or health downside?
A. …..
This seems like a good line of questions
Why didn’t Jordan think of this himself? Too busy with his new notoriety? All hat – no cattle.
Two questions, no answers, yet you immediately proffer a damning conclusion?
Yes, I think there is sufficient evidence to come to that conclusion. And it’s not the first time I have posted this conclusion.
Trey Jordon.
It’s beyond words.
Glenn Greenwald:
Ohio Train Disaster: How Corruption and Greed Created Catastrophe, w/ David Sirota | SYSTEM UPDATE #41
https://rumble.com/v29jr3e-system-update-show-41.html
I worked for a railroad as a bridge laborer in the early 70’s.
My foreman was a drunk.
One tme he didn’t have enough time to clear the track for a train.
The bridge ties were spiked up every 6 bridge tie.
I stood about 100 feet from the bridge watching the ribbon rail crawl up and down like a snake as the passenger train went over the bridge.
I was expecting the train to derail but it didn’t.
If the passengers on the train saw what I did as a railroad worker they would have never ridden a train again.
Railroads like all business cut corners.
The railroad was only concerned with keeping the train moving.
Like the federal government.
Its only concerned keeping you moving and deceived.
And producing tax revenue for them to waste, and gove to their cronies.
Long and informative read that lays out 3 areas that contributed to this disaster.
In response, the Obama administration in 2014 proposed improving safety regulations for trains carrying petroleum and other hazardous materials.
However, after industry pressure, the final measure ended up narrowly focused on the transport of crude oil and exempting trains carrying many other combustible materials, including the chemical involved in this weekend’s disaster.
Then came 2017: After rail industry donors delivered more than $6 million to GOP campaigns, the Trump administration — backed by rail lobbyists and Senate Republicans — rescinded part of that rule aimed at making better braking systems widespread on the nation’s rails.
Specifically, regulators killed provisions requiring rail cars carrying hazardous flammable materials to be equipped with electronic braking systems to stop trains more quickly than conventional air brakes.
The same companies also slashed their workforces by nearly 30 percent in that timeframe as part of what they called “precision scheduled railroading.”
Such staffing cuts are likely contributing to safety issues in freight railways. In a recent investor presentation, Norfolk Southern disclosed an increase in train accidents over the past three consecutive years.
“The massive reduction in the workforce, attendance policies that encourage people to come to work when they’re sick or exhausted, lack of access to [paid] leave, the stress that is constantly put on workers because of how lean the workforce has become, it creates a negative culture in terms of safety,” Greg Regan, president of the Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, told The Lever.
Last fall, President Joe Biden and Congress helped the industry crush an effort by rail workers to win paid sick leave by intervening to block a strike.
[l would note that those brake rules were only for high-hazard flammable trains and this train did not meet that definition]
https://www.levernews.com/rail-companies-blocked-safety-rules-before-ohio-derailment/
Do we have any evidence yet that the brakes had anything to do with the derailment?
After all, we know one box car was on fire due to a faulty axle at least twenty miles before the derailment.
There’s a lot of assumptions being offered about brakes as it was a contentious issue relatively recently politically disposed of, but I’ve encountered not one explanation for how anything regarding brakes played into this accident.
This is the rail industries website
https://www.aar.org/
The average tonnage on a freight train is 4,082 tons. Near as I can find the average speed allowed for a freight train is 49 mph.
You can’t stop that on a dime. Add a set of axles on fire and them not knowing about it and disaster is just a heartbeat away. Brakes weren’t going to stop the wheels from literally coming off the rails.
And if you dig deep enough on their website you find this:
https://www.aar.org/article/freight-rail-safest-mode-hazmat/
Lies, lies and more damnable lies.
I hope the good people of Palestine Ohio sue the railway and it’s managers into destitution.
They deserve it.
The electronic braking system you and Petey “Put It In My Butt” EdgeEdge are whining about are unreliable, haven’t performed properly in testing, and have a high failure rate due to dirt/dust inherent in rail transportation (it gets into EVERYTHING, EVERY DAMN NOOK & CRANNY NO MATTER HOW SMALL INCLUDING ELECTRONICS). “Braking” in this case has NOTHING to the crash, this disaster was caused by lack of/lost lubrication (grease/oil).
Had the train crew powered down when the “Hot (Journal) Box Detector” alerted them to the problem the train would’ve coasted to a stop (it takes a mile to stop using brakes with a mile-long train @60mph) this catastrophe could’ve been avoided.
Now the technical explanation:
As someone who spent decades in the transportaton industry (blue collar) repairing all systems including wheel bearings/journals/races I can attest (thanks to video and the “Hot Box Detector” alarm/warning) to the fact this was a lubrication issue NOT a braking issue.
Blown hub seals cause bearings to lose oil/grease, everything inside the journal box (which contains the bearings & races) then get so hot they ignite the grease/oil that was lost from the assembly. The lost grease/oil when covers everything around it including the brake pads, shipping container material etc. the bearings and races then get so hot they glow orange/red and literally weld themselves together and/or the heat generated from them causes surrounding material like boxes in a shipping container/boxcar or the shipping container itself which is mafe of thick plywood, the plys glued together with flammable adhesive, to ignite resulting in fires.
Buses and trucks have had this issue ie. seized bearings on axles, I’ve dealt with them. The intensive heat can cause the bellows/air bags (suspension), brakes pads, insulation between the inner and outer walls (on buses) to ignite. The heat generated by bearings that have lost their lubrication can/will cause an inner and/or outer tire on a rear dual axle to burst, once gone flat that tire will rub against the other tire (friction) heating it up until the flat tire bursts into flames which then does one of two things like burst the neighboring tire and/or set it aflame also, once aflame they are difficult to extinguish, the vehicle is a total loss as in buses even the seats will burn, the other panels metal, composite will actually melt, all that is left is the heavy frame.
Again this was NOT a “braking issue” this WAS a “lubrication” issue.
The “braking issue” argument (which wasn’t a “law/regulation” but “proposed”) is a “Red Herring”, a farce, a “Fugazi”, it’s being used by Democrats and their Liberal Media stenographers to attack President Trump so stop, just stop.
Now that makes sense, thanks.
Now we have to keep repeating it to counter the errors/falsehoods.
Always the way with the dems….
*******
Pete Buttigieg blames Trump for Ohio train derailment amid criticism: ‘We’re constrained’
Excerpt:
In 2018, the Department of Transportation (DOT) withdrew a rule proposed three years earlier requiring trains carrying certain dangerous chemicals to utilize electronically controlled pneumatic (ECP) brakes, saying the technology’s benefits were inconclusive.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pete-buttigieg-blames-trump-ohio-train-derailment-were-constrained
What Buttboy fails to add, it was under Obama that hazardous materials that were to use the new brakes were whttled down to those carrying oil and gas. This train would not have qualifed under the those rules.
https://www.levernews.com/rail-companies-blocked-safety-rules-before-ohio-derailment/
TY! for some clarification on this matter.
That’s the old PRR mainline to Chicago. My how the old railroad “standard setter” has fallen! The Pennsy prided itself in setting the standard in “high iron” maintenance. The pride of the old road at Altoona used to be a K4 Steam engine (if my memory serves me correct). Another standard setter. A lot of history in that road!
Jim Jordan backed RINO Keven McCarthy from the get go…. I’m afraid we’ve all been suckered by Jim Jordan.
and his not being out front on this disaster in HIS own state….. well, that says it all folks.
#Swamp swims together.
I wouldn’t hammer Jordan too hard on this. His district is in the center of the state.
Bill Johnson, Emilia Sykes and Dave Joyce represent the eastern side of Ohio.
I doubt any representative would want someone from another district poking around, and taking the limelight in their district.
I agree; Mr. Jordan should have been out front and screaming that the agencies step in and do what’s needed. It might not be his district but he represents Ohio and holds a lot of power with his positions of heading committees. He should be embarassed.
And exactly how much of the FedGov assistance denial was communicated to him from the BiteMe regime, do you think??
Cut the guy some slack.
IF THEY WERE TALIBAN JIHADIS, THEY WOULD HAVE RELOCATED THEM BY NOW.
WHEN DOES THE MASS MURDER STOP WITH THESE MONSTERS?
Sure seems like there are an inordinate amount of disasters of late. I Sony believe in….coincidence. I can hardly wait until tomorrow for the disaster du jour
“You’re all safe. We handled the problem. Go home.” Ohio and Pennsylvania governors, EPA, FEMA, appointed experts say to the residents . Most powerful elected representatives are avoiding questions.
”Menthol cigarettes are against the law.” – Same people listed above.
.
Time to cut down the EPA by at least 80%.
.
You’re 20% too low.
The state’s have their own agencies… and since its not in the Constitution, that’s where such an agency belongs.
Yep. Almost all of the alphabet soup agencies need to be shuttered. The country would be better off and the states would be more accountable if there is no Fed authority to fall back on when they fail to do their job right.
But the states want the fed $$ to draw on, because states have to balance their budgets, and they might have to actually balance them without fed funds.
How much of our federal debt of $32T is actually state debt that has been paid by the feds??
Hmmm….
There is no such thing as “Federal dollars/funds”.
Just defund. State programs can handle it.
Put the two guys who spotted the Chinese balloon over Montana in charge. They’re already more effective than the Washington EPA and Homeland Security crews in DC.
They don’t even try to hide their contempt anymore. The evil of these people knows no end. Yes, indemnify them in order to have your water and air tested then when the real serious health issues start they are off the hook.
If the clot shots dont get you the toxic air will. We used to be a country. Where are the Marines. The government needs to be placed under Marshal law, disolved and reset by the people.
Now the purpose of all those big wheel Generals/Admirals all retired, no? The Kenyan has been pretty silent lately.
Apparently his work is done.
These are the deplorable Walmart people their expendable. The elite don’t care.
East Palestine is MAGA country, therefore no help from the DOT, EPA or FEMA.
Can we stop calling these demons elites? There is nothing “elite” about them. They are parasites.
Definition of government elite:
“In political and sociological theory, the elite (French: élite, from Latin:
eligere, to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful people
who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group.”
Unfortunately the Democrats are treated differently than Republicans because they are Elite.
I understand the dictionary definition but these people are elitists not elite.
“Residents are being asked to sign liability waivers indemnifying the railroad, prior to the private testing of air and water quality.”
And at the same time, residents are being told their air and water are safe.
Kinda like giving a company immunity for any damage from their product, developed and paid for by taxpayers.
Not precisely. This has been reported as what’s being presented to residents:
Thanks for clearing that up. I thought they were seeking indemnity against ANY damage. that said, I still don’t trust them.
I might be dumb, but I would have signed that.
Short and concise.
.
This entire thing is so hideous I don’t even know what to say. Where are these people and their animals supposed to go. If the land, water and air (and all their belongings) are contaminated… there’s not even anything to sell. Meanwhile, the full extent of medical damage won’t be known for years.
This f’ing federal government has money for all manner of crap. Where is it now.
.
Well…..Ukraine for one place.
On the US/Mexican border?
No, not there.
Great Lakes fishing just might be kaput in the near future. The Fall spawning is over and the Spring spawning is just starting. Bummer! The flow of that cloud headed to Lake Erie.
Wind direction has been SSW all during this Winter warming. All those fish killed and now animals. Prayers for Mother Gaia.
“ The federal government has money for all manner of crap. Where is it now?”
Pete failed to address the catastrophic Ohio train derailment which released toxic chemicals into the air this month — but joked about Chinese spy balloons and moaned about a lack of diversity in the construction industry.
My daughter and her husband both work for FEMA, both are die-hard leftists, that’s my comment.
My condolences, Blue collar steve.
Ask them why the town residents and those downwind/downstream are not getting any help.
Leftists are inexorably drawn to gov’t… There, they can get paid twice what they would be paid in the private sector, with none of the productivity and accountability demands, with retirement bennies, paid by our taxes, that we could only dream of. Sigh…
Unfortunately, what’s done is done. Any one any where near that train spill needs to get out of that area if at all possible. I know that its easier said then done for a lot of people, but breathing that toxic air will trigger long term health damage that many people will never recover from. The entire town needs to be evacuated.
I don’t know how far away that Town Hall meeting was from the spill, but anywhere within 20 miles would be too close in my opinion. Sticking around just to yell at the owners of the rail company could cost you your life. Let the lawyers handle it.
The air in that area will take months and months to clear. Its still burning. The local and State government and the rail company may say the air and water are fine and you are going to believe them?
Folks we know in Ontario ( near Niagara Falls) are saying they believe contaminants are up their way.
Meanwhile thousands are still contributing to excess deaths daily
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^THAT^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Sundance,
With your knowledge of things that are happening, how would you compare FEMA, Red Cross, EPA or other federal agency response to this disaster as opposed to the hurricane you went through?
I see very little response or public comment from any of them. I did see the Region V guy from EPA giving comment, but nothing at all from the others.
One would expect FEMA and the Red Cross at a minimum would at least make an appearance somewhere.
Rather than housing thousands of unvetted Afghans, many of these people could be housed on military bases in temporary housing if FEMA were involved.
The last declared disaster for Ohio I can find on FEMA’s web site is March 31, 2020 for COVID.
Compare this to Biden’s response to recent California flooding.
Does Dewine need to declare a disaster and ask POTATUS for help?
FEMA and the state and local governments reacted quickly after the storm had passed. I was surprised because the regime hates FL.
FEMA only comes in at the governor’s formal petition.
They mobilize and get there quickly – but the two or three days involved to equip, transport, and set up may seem like eternities to the people on the ground.
This is what pure evil looks like.
They don’t even try to hide it anymore.
Why would they?
“It would be nice to see Ohio congressman Jim Jordan get involved to support Bill Johnson in this district.”
While he is at it, he could get the 1/6 prisoners out of jail……..
The House republicans are missing in action when it comes to getting the illegally held prisoners out of jail.
How about it, Jim?
He doesn’t have enough staff, and his plate is really full. Mike Davis explained this on Bannon’s show tonight.
Having worked for Grassley while he was in Charge of Investigations for years, he knows whereof he speaks.
Tucker is talking about that stuff people say he never talks about…
.
Tucker Carlson calls out officials handling of the toxic chemical spill in Ohio on ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight.’
.
I’ve been trying to follow this as much as possible because I reside in the potential radius of the danger. I read one place that the railroad offered 1 million dollars for compensation to these people. What a horrific dismissive insult! These people have had their lives destroyed. Everything in the near vicinity is either dead or dying. The entire country of true Americans should be standing up against this atrocity. What has happened here could happen anywhere… The heartless attitude exhibited thus far from the media that is ignoring this, the so-called public officials, the railroad and our governmental agencies (FEMA, EPA, etc.) is an abomination. Many of these folks are now the walking dead. I heard one local talking about how there are no birds anywhere. There are numerous reports of dead fish, pets, chickens, livestock, etc. The Ohio River will be taking these toxins to numerous vicinities. If this had been a hurricane or tornado that hit the area there would be support and assistance flowing in from every direction. I’m completely outraged and disgusted both with what was so negligently done as well as the response.
Already the politics have begun. Already they are blaming Trump just as they blame the guns when some lunatic goes on a shooting rampage.
FOCUS ON THE VICTIMS! They did not ask for this, they did not cause this. They need help from fellow Americans! They’re lives have been destroyed!
To folks who have no disposable income, a million dollars would allow them to move and start a new life. Sure lawyers could get them more money but it would take years which these people don’t have.
Remember, all disasters are LOCAL. That means, the Governors of Ohio and Pennsylvania through their Emergency Management Departments are in charge of the response, not the Feds; the Feds (FEMA) are there to support aid/assistance requests from the states. [Other states along the Ohio River will certainly have activated their own Emergency Operations Centers to deal with potential river contamination problems.] While the Feds get their deserved share of criticism for many things, the Governors of Ohio and Pennsylvania should be the ones directly in the crosshairs for any criticism concerning the competency of the disaster response. This is one of the biggest jobs governors do: deal with emergencies in their own state and jointly with other governors when the disaster impacts neighbors. Those states with strong governors who prepare their states for emergencies do well (e.g., Florida and other southern states dealing with hurricanes); those states with weak governors don’t do nearly as well in emergency response. Long after federal assistance has left the disaster area, state government will be “working” the disaster — it was nearly 20 years after Mt St Helens erupted that Washington State finally closed the disaster office for that event: the last actions (e.g., insurance claims, etc.) had been completed. Sadly, Ohio and Pennsylvania will have to deal with this disaster for many, many years to come.
I’d probably get kicked off the site if I commented honestly to those two comments by Wvvet and DoggyDaddy. So…no comment.
What did they say that were wrong? The chain of request for FedGov assistance is correct…Does anybody remember Katrina, and the brain-dead gov that didn’t bother to ask for assistance from the feds until days after, and FEMA was chomping at the bit to get down there?
One million each or cumulative? I very much doubt that it is for each citizen. That is more like what they might eventually get in a lawsuit many years down the road. That amount of money would be admitting responsibility, which they will avoid at all cost. I also read early on in this thread that their initial offer was $25K or $5 per person, don’t know if true or not, but certainly a huge insult!
Imagine the response if this happened down in the bottoms in LA or MS..
Johnson telling people nothing harmful in water or air.
He’s finished.
Thomas Paine Podcast reported today the railroad buried the tanker cars. Also, the full manifest shows even more chemicals than anyone is reporting.
Were the cars sealed off first, as suggested by a poster who is a professional hazardous chem engineer above? One would hope.
As to the full manifest, nobody knows for sure immediately when something of this magnitude happens. Even the best guesses are not quantific analysis.
The “ government “ wants to ban gas stoves because they are not healthy ….. but it is AWOL on Ohio’s Chernobyl.
All this “ clean air and water green deal” has nothing to do with us, people , but only with filling pockets with green of the elites who can go home tonight and drink tap water.
Disgusting.
Is this the railroad owned by Warren Buffet?
He did at one time. I think he sold his shares of Norfolk Southern.
Burlington Northern Santa Fe is his railroad.
Are Turkey’s Erdogan and Ohio’s Jim Jordan, both Deep State nemeses, being attacked via ‘constituency disasters’? The world gets stranger by the day.
I was struck by 2 things on the Fox footage:
1 – the lady dusting the top of a wooden console or desk with a paper towel and putting it in a sandwich baggie — basically collecting her own household dust samples for later analysis
2 – the lady who came out in the morning to find her 5 chickens dead – they were her egg layers, but she also mentioned her sadness because they “become part of the family”
There’s way worse injury and way worse loss, but those 2 little moments stuck with me
I hear that chickens are great pets and very affectionate.
Certain breeds can be quite human – friendly.
Why in the world did Faux news not air the Palestine town hall in it’s entirety? I mean, they aired Whitney Huston’s funeral & other crap in full, why not this important news story?
If OAN or NewsMax aired it, I wouldn’t know being as DirecTV took those away from me.
Just waiting on my tax return to tell DirecTV to go to hell & move on to streaming.
Maybe I’m forgetting but did the Palestine Town Hall ever log any Grammies?
Declare DC a SuperFund Site . . . you know, like an old leaky gas station . . . or worse yet, like an old mine.
Moreover Jim Jordan’s bit of power is safely contained and anesthetized within the UniParty construct.
Program note: Waters is being ideologically positioned between Truth-teller Carlson and Tick-Tocker Hannity. Carlson Lite? Hannity Heavy? Faux News has big plans for Just Enuf Jesse.
I have been wondering why nothing has been heard from Rep. Jim Jordan. Was this railroad event intentionally targeted at his district for a reason? Is he being sent a message from the deep state like Bryan Kemp got when his daughter’s boyfriend’s car (with the boyfriend in it) was blown up?
Ohio is a big state. Representative Jordan’s district is elsewhere. The senators from Ohio should be out front, however, Jordan has the “big name” from Ohio. Vance (new Republican senator) and Brown (long-time Democrat senator) should be on it. But…?
J.D. is on it, Red Sherrod is nowhere to be found.
Where’s the Red Crescent, err the Red Cross?
Well, the Kentucky Bag Man, and Poops Joe Biden of The UniParty will soon step in, fog up the air worse than it already is, and help out Norfolk & Southern.
Meanwhile the RINO Slickster Romney watches from out of sight.
My guess is that they did not kill enough people with the poison shot so have to use other methods. IE: a train wreck and then make sure the chemicals are burned for faster results. Maybe they can shoot some balloons out of the sky and release more chemicals. Sure they are not done with us. I have to believe that their time is coming.
This is more proof no one in Government cares about anyone.
Perhaps the CEO of NSC knows it is too dangerous to even be in East Palestine right now .
da gubmint hates you
Expecting anything from Captain Obvious is pointless. Jordan is a gasbag. PERIOD
They’re just blue collar Kulaks in flyover country. Who cares?