Vance returns to site of catastrophic East Palestine derailment, vows to complete cleanup



Vice President JD Vance visited East Palestine, Ohio, on the second anniversary of the Feb. 3, 2023, Norfolk Southern train derailment, which blackened the sky over the village with hazardous chemicals, threatened the health of nearby residents, and poisoned the surrounding environment.

Vance stressed that the people of East Palestine have not been forgotten, signaling a desire to ensure a proper cleanup of the area in his home state.

The derailment

A Norfolk Southern freight train with 141 packed cars, nine empty cars, and three locomotives derailed in East Palestine on Feb. 3, 2023. Thirty-eight cars, 11 containing hazardous materials — including vinyl chloride, benzene residue, hydrogen chloride, ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, ethylhexyl acrylate, and isobutylene — ultimately went off the tracks as the result of a failed wheel bearing.

Fearing that the initial fires engulfing the wreckage might cause a "catastrophic tanker failure," emergency crews for the railroad — which spent over $1.5 million lobbying in Washington, D.C., just last year and hundreds of millions more going back to 1990 — conducted a vent and burn of five tanks of vinyl chloride, darkening the sky with what the National Transportation Safety Board called a toxic "mushroom cloud."

'This community will not be forgotten.'

Blaze News previously reported that burning vinyl chloride, as the accident-prone railroad did with some of the over 877,000 pounds contained in its derailed cars, produced hydrogen chloride and phosgene gas, the latter of which was used to massacre troops in World War I.

The NTSB revealed last June that the decision to execute the controlled burn, which forced 2,000 residents to flee their homes, killed thousands of local creatures, heavily contaminated nearby waters, and sent possibly cancer-causing airborne toxins into the air across multiple states well beyond the accident week, "was based on incomplete and misleading information provided by Norfolk Southern officials and contractors. The vent and burn was not necessary to prevent a tank car failure."

Vance on the ground

Two years after highlighting the environmental damage in East Palestine and demanding that its residents cannot be forgotten, Vance returned, underscoring that the village was not and would not be forgotten.

"I talked to the president about this visit a couple days ago. The president loves this community. Of course, he visited it personally," Vance told a crowd in the village's firehouse. "President Trump just wanted to deliver a message that this community will not be forgotten, will not be left behind, and we are in it for the long haul in East Palestine."

Vance indicated that the "environmental cleanup has to get done," calling it a "tragedy and a shame" that the Biden administration dropped the ball.

The vice president also signaled an interest in helping rejuvenate the local economy, stating, "We are committed not just to finishing the environmental side of the cleanup but hopefully seeing East Palestine built back better and stronger and more prosperous than it was before the disaster happened in the first place."

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin indicated that Vance's office told him immediately after his confirmation that his first order of business was East Palestine and that the cleanup effort is now the EPA's highest priority.

Litigation

In the meantime, locals are looking for accountability by way of litigation.

A new lawsuit involving 744 current and former residents of East Palestine that was recently filed against Norfolk Southern and agencies at all levels of government alleges that seven people including a 1-week-old baby died in the aftermath of the railroad wreck, reported KDKA-TV.

The lawsuit reportedly also claims that Norfolk Southern — already on the hook for a $600 million class-action settlement approved in September, an over $310 million settlement with the federal government, and a settlement with East Palestine that was announced on Jan. 27 — fumbled the cleanup efforts, while government agencies failed to properly warn residents about health risks.

The Associated Press indicated that at least another nine lawsuits have been filed in recent days by individuals and businesses, claiming that Norfolk Southern's greed was responsible for the derailment and suggesting that the $600 million settlement is insufficient to compensate the victims or to prompt the railroad to change its behavior.

While a railroad spokeswoman Heather Garcia declined to comment on the lawsuits, she told the Associated Press, "We've made significant progress, and we aren't done."

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NTSB confirms it was 'unnecessary' to create a toxic 'mushroom cloud' over East Palestine



A Norfolk Southern freight train with 141 loaded cars, nine empty cars, and three locomotives was making its way through Ohio the evening of Feb. 3, 2023, when disaster struck.

Thirty-eight cars, 11 of which contained hazardous materials — including vinyl chloride, benzene residue, hydrogen chloride, ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, ethylhexyl acrylate, and isobutylene — went off the tracks in the town of East Palestine. The worst, however, had yet to come.

The flames that apparently first showed beneath the train soon transformed part of the pile of derailed cars into an inferno.

'We basically nuked a town with chemicals.'

Days into the fires, Norfolk Southern emergency crews, under the supervision of purported experts and first responders, started their own blaze.

Citing the need to avoid a "catastrophic tanker failure," the railway conducted a vent and burn of five tanks of vinyl chloride, darkening the sky above East Palestine with what the National Transportation Safety Board called a toxic "mushroom cloud."

Silverio Caggiano, a hazardous materials specialist, told WKBN, "We basically nuked a town with chemicals so we could get a railroad open."

Local creatures died off in the thousands. Nearby water was poisoned. Residents had to flee their homes.

Apparently it was all for nothing.

The NTSB announced Tuesday that the decision by the local incident commander on Feb. 6 to execute the controlled burn "was based on incomplete and misleading information provided by Norfolk Southern officials and contractors. The vent and burn was not necessary to prevent a tank car failure."

While the Federal Railroad Administration maintains that a vent and burn procedure should be the last resort, the NTSB indicated the railway "rejected three other removal methods and began planning for a vent and burn shortly after the derailment."

According to an abstract for the NTSB's final report, the "observed downward temperature trend in tank car OCPX80370 indicates that polymerization was not occurring within the tank car, contrary to the representation by Norfolk Southern Railway and its contractors."

Polymerization similarly did not occur in the tank cars containing vinyl chloride monomer — which "remained in a stabilized environment until the vent and burn" — meaning their alarmist defense of blowing up the trains was unfounded.

The safety board claimed the railway withheld information from Oxy Vinyls, the company that made the vinyl chloride, as well as information indicating the tank cars were cooling after the derailment, reported the Associated Press.

Jennifer Homendy, the chair of the NTSB, indicated that investigators were told by a Norfolk Southern contractor that it did not keep records of temperature changes on the tank cars containing vinyl chloride.

'We found through text messages through one of their employees, who provided that information in later interviews, that they did keep those records," said the NTSB chair. "It took about two months before the team received those texts and the emails."

Temperature readings were highly relevant when making the decision to execute a controlled burn.

In a statement Tuesday, Norfolk Southern once again defended its decision, claiming it carefully considered all alternatives.

It also alleged that it and its contractors "received conflicting information from Oxy Vinyls' personnel as to whether polymerization was or could be occurring. And Oxy Vinyls' safety data sheet was clear that polymerization was possible in the circumstances observed at the derailment."

Contrary to the railroad's suggestion, Oxy Vinyls experts reportedly testified at previous NTSB hearings that they were certain at the time that polymerization wasn't happening.

At the NTSB's hearing Tuesday, Homendy also accused Norfolk Southern — which has spent nearly $100 million greasing the hands of politicians in Washington, D.C., since 1990 — of tripping up the investigation and abusing its status as a party to the investigation,

"Norfolk Southern’s abuse of the party process was unprecedented and reprehensible," said Homendy.

The railroad apparently dragged its feet when providing investigators with critical information. At other times, Homendy suggested that Norfolk Southern did not even bother providing requested information.

The NTSB also stressed in its report that Norfolk Southern's delayed provision of consistent information to emergency responders "needlessly increased the time emergency responders spent near the derailment pileup and delayed the evacuation order, resulting in unnecessary and increased exposure of emergency responders and the public to postderailment hazards."

The release of the board's findings comes one month after a federal judge approved Norfolk Southern's $600 million class action settlement addressing class-action claims within a 20-mile radius of the derailment and personal injury claims within 10 miles of the derailment.

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Rider thrown to her death, others severely wounded in horrific Swedish roller coaster derailment



A roller coast went off the rails Sunday in Stockholm, Sweden, leaving one dead and several badly injured.

The Jetline roller coaster at Gröna Lund park travels at 55.9 mph, pulls 4.5 g, hits a height of 90 feet and runs a track length of just over 2,624 feet. Last year, it ranked among the Golden Ticket Awards' top 50 steel roller coasters.

The ride, known for its anomalous, curved, upward sloping section, first opened in 1988. It was closed Sunday following a gruesome accident.

"Today, what is not allowed to happen happened," park officials said in a statement on Facebook.

"An accident in the roller coaster Jetline led to the death of one person and several were injured. It's a sad day at Gröna Lund and our thoughts go out to those affected and their relatives," continued officials.

The Swedish national public broadcaster SVT reported that the individual who perished in the accident was a woman in her 30s.

Among the 14 people aboard the ill-fated train, nine — including children — were taken to hospital. Three riders were severely wounded. The kids taken to the Astrid Lindgren's children's hospital have since been released.

The front car separated from the train then came to an abrupt halt, sending its passengers crashing to the ground some 26 feet below.

Marco, an eyewitness, told SVT, "First I heard a bang and then I saw two guys fly out of the carriage."

One witness, Ziba Assadi, observed "this huge piece of the wheel of the carriage fall from the sky and hit the track," adding the train stopped and people were flying out, falling out of the carriages."

In one video documenting the immediate aftermath, a rider can be seen desperately clinging to the rails nearby the partially-derailed car.

— (@)

Cornelia, a visitor who had been on the ride with her son, told TV4 that while many people fled amidst the chaos, some onlookers jumped the fence in a rush to administer aid.

"There was a lot of screaming. No one knew what was going on," said Cornelia.

— (@)
Jenny Lagerstedt, a journalist who had been nearby with her family, said the horrific scene was preceded by a metallic noise.

Police are presently investigating the crash and will determine whether involuntary manslaughter charges are warranted. The park indicated it would assist police with its investigation and undertake its own, exploring the technical reasons behind the derailment.

The Swedish Accident Investigation Authority revealed Monday that it would be launching an investigation into the incident, which is expected to take up to a year.

According to the Local, John Ahlberk, general director of the SHK, said, "It's not just a technical investigation, we'll also take a look at documentation concerning the event, interview those involved, look at supervisory frameworks and training."

The independent accredited inspections company Dekra reportedly examined the ride at the beginning of the month, noting, "Result: No flaws. Offers reassuring safety."

Jetline front seat on-ride HD POV Gröna Lund youtu.be

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'Stay clear!' Train carrying hazardous materials derails and catches fire in Maine



The latest train derailment occurred in Maine on Saturday. This derailment is especially worrisome since the train was reportedly carrying hazardous material and it caught fire. The train with toxic materials derailed and caught on fire near Maine's largest body of fresh water.

A train transporting hazardous material derailed on Saturday in Rockwood, Maine. The area in the western part of the state is mostly rural. The train derailment happened near Moosehead Lake – one of the largest bodies of freshwater in the state.

The Rockwood Fire & Rescue warned local citizens, "Train derailment with fire north of Rockwood, hazzard materials please stay clear!"

There were reportedly multiple train cars that veered off the track.

It was not specified what kind of hazardous materials the derailed train was transporting.

The Facebook page for the Rockwood Fire & Rescue posted a photo of the train derailment in the snow-covered area near a river.

Somerset County Emergency Management Agency Director Michael Smith told CNN that state responders and emergency agencies from Northern Somerset County were "on scene."

The Portland Press Herald reported, "First responders say the derailment is 3 miles east of Demo Road Bridge. Crews are using heavy equipment to clear a snowmobile trail to get access to the scene."

It is unclear if anyone was injured from the train derailment.

KOKI-TV reported, "The tracks in that area are Central Maine and Quebec Railroad tracks which are now owned by Canadian Pacific Railway."

Train derailments have garnered much more attention since the disaster in East Palestine, Ohio.

\u201c\ud83d\udea8#BREAKING: A train carrying hazardous materials has derailed and caught fire\n\n\ud83d\udccc#Rockwood | #Maine\n\nA catastrophic event has unfolded in Rockwood, Maine, as a train transporting hazardous materials has derailed and subsequently caught fire. The situation has prompted the\u2026\u201d
— R A W S A L E R T S (@R A W S A L E R T S) 1681591632

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