Because when you say that this is nothing new, and just humans being humans, you're suggesting that we should just let this slide. I recognize that this particular event isn't unique, and it won't be the last, but there's a chance that after this one, we can make steps to hold people accountable, and to hold these massive corporations to higher standards instead of letting stuff like this go. I'm not willing to just not try, to not do whatever part I can do, to make that happen.
Ohio Derailment
- Thread starter Jaylotw
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It's all three. It's already being covered up. Greed caused the railroads to skimp on safety measures. Incompetence comes when your best employees have left because of being overworked in dangerous conditions.
Yet, clean water is pretty damn important. I'll take mine with no vinyl Chloride, please.
Television and other mediums will shade/color it and publicize. Don't you worry.
But, for most people, not impacted, it's simply another small disaster. Smaller in size compared to the recent earthquakes which killed thousands, injured thousands more and is certainly a more sympathetic occurrence than a train derailment.
I don't believe anyone suggested "letting it slide." It'll be investigated, politicians will try to gather votes from it, thousands will be paid out in law suits and so forth. Trains have accidents. Accidents are investigated and responsibility will be assigned. It'll be "yesterdays news" very soon. The wheels of justice will continue to turn and a lot of attorneys will become very rich/richer in a couple of years, insurance companties will raise rates to cover thier losses. Years after, the incident is mostly forgotten and the trains have continued to roll. Maybe better inspected. Maybe better regulated. Who can predict? Unless intimately involved, members of the public have short attention spans and the next train wreck or, other disaster, will assume the headlines.
But, for most people, not impacted, it's simply another small disaster. Smaller in size compared to the recent earthquakes which killed thousands, injured thousands more and is certainly a more sympathetic occurrence than a train derailment.
I don't believe anyone suggested "letting it slide." It'll be investigated, politicians will try to gather votes from it, thousands will be paid out in law suits and so forth. Trains have accidents. Accidents are investigated and responsibility will be assigned. It'll be "yesterdays news" very soon. The wheels of justice will continue to turn and a lot of attorneys will become very rich/richer in a couple of years, insurance companties will raise rates to cover thier losses. Years after, the incident is mostly forgotten and the trains have continued to roll. Maybe better inspected. Maybe better regulated. Who can predict? Unless intimately involved, members of the public have short attention spans and the next train wreck or, other disaster, will assume the headlines.
This has the potential to affect the drinking water of nearly 25 million people. It's a huge scale disaster. The fact that there were devastating earthquakes doesn't diminish that, and doesn't mean we should just turn a blind eye.
There will be investigations. Sure. They'll find someone to blame. Theyll pay some money (Norfolk Southern offered the TOWN 25k...about $5.30 for each citizen...) and make some gestures, but unless people demand change, nothing will actually change.
The rest of your comment speaks volumes as far as people's reactions. We've become accustomed to things like this. "It's no big deal. Just some bumfuck town in Ohio. And some river. Life goes on. Blah blah environment blah blah." Everything you've said is exactly why this is so enraging to watch happen.
Until it's you evacuating. It's your kids getting cancer, your river being destroyed, your town rendered uninhabitable. Then you're going to wish you made a bigger deal out of this kind of thing.
They built housing over a chemical dumping ground at Patrick Air Force base here in Florida, after decades of denying a problem they are finally starting to say something might be an issue, it has one of the highest concentrations of cancer in the US in that one little area.
You nailed it. An old news hound, with TV show, long deceased, imparted this on me once, "People want to know when the pothole in their street is gonna be fixed." Meaning, what's happening the neighborhood. Most people are pretty parochial in their interests.
There's a place like that in Fairport Harbor, Ohio. Except everyone knew how contaminated it was and no one denied it...but money talks and the developer built houses anyways. Cancer rates are sky high...hexavalent chromium does that.
Why do we let this shit happen?
This was base housing so where they stuck all the fliers and their families. I grew up with a lot of people that lived there and a lot of my friends have passed from cancer and i'm only 55.
It's sickening. This is what's likely going to happen in East Palestine, and possibly areas downstream and downwind in PA and WV as well.
Took 30 yrs for the EPA to even investigate and it's one of the 3 superfund cleanup sites now, but it's all housing so not sure how that works.
The superfund site in Fairport Harbor has been declared since the 80s...it was one of the first. It's still not cleaned. It will likely just be declared "safe," the ground tested in places where it's likely no contamination will be found, anyway, and everyone at the EPA will just hope no one pays enough attention.
I'm sure the secretary of transportation is on top of this no problem.
Nobody is. This is just a complete failure of everyone in the government, everyone.
It's a result of YEARS of deregulation, cost cutting, safety measures being circumvented, rail crews being cut back to skeleton crews. It's the result of industry running our leaders, instead of our leaders regulating industry to keep people safe.
Every side has blood (or Vinyl Chloride) on their hands on this, which is why it's being shoved under the rug. The reality is much, much worse than any media is letting on. There are videos of black clouds of straight poison (phosgene, used in WWI, and hydrogen chloride) blackening the sky miles away. It's just awful, and no one is going to care in a week.
Rumor is Norfolk Southern's lawyers are in town, knocking on doors, offering townsfolk $1000 as a "final settlement." Most are not signing.
1700 train derailments a year.
It's honestly so hard to make posts, i have to keep looking at what I type and delete it all, I don't want to make this political and start something and get it locked and piss off the mods, so we'll just leave that number there, I was shocked it was so high, but again you just don't hear about them because there isn't a lot of loss of life in 99.9% of them. The country is literally crumbling, roads, highways, airports, trains, ports, the grid, all of it. I keep seeing money marked for it and we need to start actually doing what needs to be done.
It's honestly so hard to make posts, i have to keep looking at what I type and delete it all, I don't want to make this political and start something and get it locked and piss off the mods, so we'll just leave that number there, I was shocked it was so high, but again you just don't hear about them because there isn't a lot of loss of life in 99.9% of them. The country is literally crumbling, roads, highways, airports, trains, ports, the grid, all of it. I keep seeing money marked for it and we need to start actually doing what needs to be done.
Pretty much my reaction filling my pipe I live in Ohio, the disaster sucks, but literally nothing I can do about it.
Oh and bridges, i knew i forgot something that was going to shit. lol
There is, though. Talk about it. Don't let it become last week's news. Tell everyone you know about it.
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