Bassoe
Well-known member
I'm surprised we didn't have a thread on this disaster and the consequences thereof yet.
CNN Article
BusinessNews Article
Basic rundown, last Friday a Norfolk Southern-owned tanker train carrying highly carcinogenic vinyl chloride derailed in East Palestine Ohio. Due to the risk of an explosion contaminating everything, the company promptly decided to do a 'controlled burn', which in practice meant releasing a toxic death cloud straight out of WW1, permanently poisoning the local farmland and water table.
This has became politicized for the following reasons:
CNN Article
BusinessNews Article
Basic rundown, last Friday a Norfolk Southern-owned tanker train carrying highly carcinogenic vinyl chloride derailed in East Palestine Ohio. Due to the risk of an explosion contaminating everything, the company promptly decided to do a 'controlled burn', which in practice meant releasing a toxic death cloud straight out of WW1, permanently poisoning the local farmland and water table.
This has became politicized for the following reasons:
- Coming right after the legalistic sabotage of the railway workers strike for replacing obsolete safety equipment among other safety measures. This could look bad for the people who ignored the warnings and sabotaged said strike.
- A possible media coverup. This is America's Bhopal disaster yet the headlines care more about that stupid balloon and a reporter was detained on extremely flimsy reasoning which didn't hold up in court.
- Possible corruption and/or incompetence in the safety messaging departments. They're saying it's safe for the townsfolk to return home, yet inhabitants keep reporting local wildlife dying and the testing is being performed by Tetra Tech and CTEH, both of whom have previously been caught falsifying results.
- $25,000 as 'compensation' for rendering a whole town of about 5,000 people inhospitable. From a company worth $55.26 billion. Coming to five bucks each.
- More coincidental destruction of agricultural infrastructure. There's been a lot of that lately.