Train to the Apocalypse
Palestine, Ohio Train Derailment Updates:
“The governor of Ohio told residents living near the site of a toxic train derailment that it was ‘safe’ to drink the water, as authorities investigate potential environmental fallout from the accident earlier this month.”
“The Feb. 3 derailment of a Norfolk Southern train in Ohio released more toxic chemicals than first reported, according to a report NS provided to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency… According to the report provided by NS on Sunday, a tank car carrying stabilized butyl acrylate, a highly flammable liquid used for making paints, sealants and adhesive, had its head branched and its contents spilled or burned in the derailment fire. A tank car carrying ethylhexyl acrylate, a combustible liquid that is used to make paint and plastics, had its head breached, but the amount of product that remained in the car is still pending. And a tank car carrying ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, a flammable liquid that is used in consumer products such as spot removers, cosmetics and paints and with vapors that can irritate the skin and eyes, is of unknown status.”
Analyst Comment: Two things can simultaneously be true: It can be true that the Palestine, Ohio train derailment is the worst man-made environmental disaster in modern US history and that this is not the next Chernobyl as some have been claiming. While the mainstream media has largely ignored the major health implications, many have jumped to the inverse position: Ohio is doomed! No one can live there ever again. Every fresh water source downstream will soon be poisoned! More trains are derailing every day, this is intentional!
Let’s conquer the stats first. Over 1,000 trains derail every year in the US, or 2.7 a day. It is not abnormal that multiple trains have derailed in the last few days; it is not abnormal that a train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed; and it is not abnormal that the government completely botched the response and the corporate press has largely ignored it. None of these things should be surprising or a reliable indicator of a planned mass extinction event, foreign invasion or anything out of the normal cycle of failure and incompetency.
On the health implications, as harmful chemicals spread out through the air and water, they become diluted at a very high rate. Everyday we consume trace amounts of any number of carcinogens and harmful chemicals. For most, the Ohio event will have little to no effect on their health, and they should be more concerned with the chemicals leaching into their food from plastic Tupperware. For those living in Palestine, or within a few miles, the outcome could be radically different. Long-term health consequences are certainly on the table.