The Ohio Rail Disaster.

News | David Wu | February 26th, 2023.

      In 1985, the novel White Noise depicted an ominous and devastating train derailment in Northeastern Ohio, eventually leading to a 2022 Netflix film adaptation under the same name. Nonetheless, residents of East Palestine, Ohio, many of whom were extras in the film, never expected the fictional horrors to turn into reality. On February 3rd, 2023, a train carrying dangerous chemicals derailed in East Palestine. The subsequent consequences were beyond imaginable. Aside from the infrastructural destruction near ground zero, countless residents have reported sickness from the chemical leakage. Commercial businesses are beginning to lose demand as local, state, and federal governments contain the town until it is safe. Chemicals will have lasting negative effects -- decades or even centuries -- on the nearby land. To make matters worse, the railroad company responsible for this accident, Norfolk Southern Corporation, made lukewarm responses to remedy this incident. Even President Biden came under fire after visiting Ukraine instead of East Palestine. This article explores this derailment's medical, economic, and political implications. 

Just two weeks after the incident, the residents began amassing at the clinics and hospitals with complaints of nausea, rashes, and trouble breathing. It is currently opaque whether the chemicals have direct causation or correlation to the sudden rise in reports of health ailments, but there is no better explanation. On February 21, 2023, the Ohio state government established an emergency clinic to treat or attend to the needs of East Palestine residents who report sickness. Under the request of Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, the United States Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency are working on the ground to conduct studies, collections, and understanding of the chemicals. The main chemical involved in this accident is vinyl chloride, primarily known for its combustion function in tobacco and the secondary production phase of making industrial-grade plastics, such as pipelines. If the air contains vinyl chloride, human inhalation will increase the risk of liver, brain, and lung cancers, leukemia, and lymphoma. When the train derailed initially, vinyl chloride on the derailed carriages underwent controlled releases into the air to prevent an explosion; however, there will be definitive short-term and long-term detriments to the health/well-being of local residents.

Accident rates and profits should never be directly proportional, especially for a transportation freight company. Norfolk Southern Corporation (NSC), the rail company responsible for this derailment, documented record profit in the past two years amid post-COVID recovery but also record amounts of accidents on its 140,000-mile rail network. The FRA Train Accident Report for NSC indicates a consistent rise in train accidents from 2020-2022, with Q4 of 2022 at its peak. NSC is making profits with greater demand while cutting costs, such as neglecting improvements in the trains’ braking systems, hydraulics, and other operational imperatives. Additionally, NSC is paying its shareholders great profit dividends to attract more investors. These are significant developments in the past several years for most of the rail industry; it’s only that NSC ignited the spark of discontent with such a horrifying accident. For the local East Palestine residents, some of their small businesses were shattered after the incident. Take John Hammer’s successful, down-to-earth trash collecting business, for instance: the small company grew from 5 to 7,000 customers over two decades of hard work only to have it destroyed by a train overnight. That is only one example of the substantial impact on the local economies. For now, NSC will pay for the clean-up and reconstruction efforts in East Palestine. If they fail to comply with the promise, the United States Environmental Protection Agency will penalize NSC $70,000/day until compensation is accounted for. 

Although NSC pays a fair share of the responsibility for faulty procedures, it’s hard to overlook that the government also failed to reinforce adequate regulations. This simple accident microscope into the current United States government's dangerous lack of attention to domestic matters. The data comparison is simple: under the 2022 Biden Administration, the United States transferred $73.1 billion in aid to Ukraine, while the total federal expenditure to improve domestic infrastructure and services was $36.6 billion. How could it be possible for one to sell a product of democracy when it can’t be the city upon a hill? As has been said, Biden’s visit to Ukraine amid the Ohio railroad crisis demonstrates a clear misdirection of focus away from the American people. This is not to say that foreign involvement isn’t important, but after witnessing the tragic events in America, one should be rational and understand the significance. The derailment paved the way for former President Trump to visit East Palestine and criticize the current administration’s poor handling of domestic affairs, which to a certain extent, is a valid concern for Democrats and Republicans alike. 

As recovery processes persist for the next several weeks, maybe even months, East Palestine will never be the same. Land contamination will persist for decades, and the site of the accident will be fresh on people’s minds for generations to come. Accidents happen and are often unpredictable, but some are preventable, and some aren’t. The Ohio train derailment, although mournful, should be seen as an opportunity to recognize the desperate need for domestic improvements on every front. The loss won’t be in vain as long as we collaborate politically, economically, and socially as Americans.