We’re witnessing one of the biggest ecological disasters in American history
And the media has been mostly quiet about it
🧵
And the media has been mostly quiet about it
🧵
11 days ago a Norfolk Southern train carrying dangerous chemicals derailed between Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Five of its cars were carrying hundreds of thousands of gallons of vinyl chloride - an insanely toxic chemical - that spilled out onto the ground and into the soil.
Authorities responded with a “controlled burn” meant to safely release the toxic chemicals.
The problem is that the byproduct of burning vinyl chloride is hydrogen chloride which is very unstable and turns into hydrochloric acid - meaning East Palestine, Ohio could be flooded with acid in the air!
Meanwhile, Norfolk Southern has downplayed the incident and government officials are patting themselves on the back for a crisis averted.
They’re even trying to convince evacuated residents to come back....
But local streams are full of dead fish, animals are sick and dying, and the Ohio River–which serves 10% of the US–has been contaminated.
Who’s going to take responsibility?
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