Trains With Hazardous Materials Continue To Derail

Trains carrying hazardous materials continue to derail around the country – is the U.S. under attack?

JD Heyes 

Another train carrying hazardous chemicals has jumped the tracks, this time in Michigan.

The train is operated by Norfolk Southern, the same rail line that operated the train that derailed outside East Palestine, Ohio, earlier this month, spewing tons of toxic liquid and smoke into the atmosphere and the local water table, causing fish and livestock such as chickens to die and scores of residents to report getting ill.

Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) issued a statement confirming the derailment, adding that the train was carrying hazardous materials as well.

“We are also in touch with the relevant federal authorities, including the EPA,” Dingell told local media outlets on Thursday.

“At this time, no one is aware of the release of any hazardous materials, the car carrying hazardous material has been put upright and is being removed from the area of the other derailed cars, and [the Environmental Protection Agency] is dispatching a team to ensure public safety,” she added.

Dingell said her office is currently “in touch with Supervisor Kevin McNamara, the Van Buren Fire Department, and other local officials regarding the train derailment in Van Buren Township.” She added: “We will continue to monitor the situation very closely and remain in touch with federal, state, and local officials, and release additional information as it becomes available.”

The Feb. 3 incident in East Palestine happened so suddenly that most of the people in the town were caught off-guard. Reports said the train was on its way to a nearby chemical plant, and it was carrying a variety of dangerous substances. As it approached a curve in the tracks, the train suddenly went off the rails and crashed into a nearby embankment. The impact was so strong that several of the train cars burst open, spilling their contents all over the surrounding area.

Earlier this week in Arizona, a truck carrying nitric acid suddenly lost control and overturned, spilling its dangerous contents all over the road. As the first responders arrived on the scene, they were met with the overwhelming smell of the toxic acid. The fumes were so strong that they could be felt from several miles away, authorities reported. As the truck lay on its side, the acid began to seep out, spreading quickly and dangerously across the surrounding area.

The Tucson Fire Department noted in a statement personnel were helping “control the hazmat and brush fire incidents” at the crash site. The extent of injuries and whether other vehicles were involved were not revealed, nor was the accident’s cause or scope of the spill.

So many incidents in such a short amount of time have led some analysts to believe the country is under some kind of attack....

More...

A month before the Ohio vinyl chloride toxic gas bomb was ignited by government officials, a large chemical plant exploded in La Salle, Ill. – is this a pattern?

Ethan Huff

Almost a month to the day before the Norfolk Southern freight train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, and was subsequently burned on purpose, another chemical plant exposure occurred in Illinois.

The Carus potassium permanganate plant in La Salle reportedly caught fire on January 12, sending a chemical plume into the air that left residue all over nearby residences.

The official story is that the fire’s cause is a mystery, but much like the Ohio blast, it has had a lingering effect on the La Salle area where local residents are still having to deal with the fallout.

Both the plant and nearby residential neighborhoods became covered with chemicals, with one person’s backyard lawn furniture getting eaten through by the burn accelerant.

“When I hit the windshield wipers, it looked black to me, then it turned green and now it’s like a brown color,” said local resident Jamie Hicks. “And it’s caustic. I know what it is; they know what it is.”

Hicks shared photos with local media about what the substance did to her backyard furniture, burrowing what appeared to be rusty holes in the surface material.

“It sounded like it was raining, so I put my hand out, and it was ash coming down,” said another local named Alex Lopez. “At first it was black, then it turned green, so then I went through the car wash. It had stained the windshield a gray or brown film.”

Many other La Salle residents reported similar pollution on their properties as chemical ash coated their cars, garbage can lids, roofs, and decks.

It is the same type of thing that is now being reported in and around East Palestine, begging the question: is a pattern beginning to form? Are catastrophic chemical releases becoming the new food processing plant fires, which dominated the news cycle much of last year?

The chemical release in East Palestine is so severe that environmentalist and public health and safety advocate Erin Brockovich tweeted a warning to local residents telling them to go with their gut and leave the area if they sense a proliferation of toxins around their properties.

“What I will say is this,” Brockovich wrote. “Trust your eyes, ears and nose and get the hell out of there if your senses are telling you too [sic].”

Since the Ohio incident, there have been several other similar events, including train derailments in South Carolina and Texas. A plastic pot warehouse in Kissimmee, Fla., also mysteriously caught fire this week, also sending plumes of toxic chemicals into the skies.