Norfolk Southern has a whole lot of explaining to do after a train carrying polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and other noxious chemicals derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, near the Pennsylvania border.
We are told that after the incident occurred, local police blew up the train and its railcar contents “like a beached whale,” sending untold volumes of “megatoxins” into the sky.
The Twitter account “UAE Exotic Falconry & Finance” is calling the incident a Chernobyl-like event as the derailment and subsequent explosion delivered plumes of cancer-causing poison into the local environment – so much so that it could even be seen from the window of an airplane.
Gov. Mike DeWine held a press conference during which members of the press sought answers to questions about the incident and what caused it. In at least one case, a reporter was arrested by police for showing up and trying to ask questions.
“They didn’t tell anyone that it’s a five-day evacuation,” the
aforementioned Twitter account tweeted along with shocking photos – see below – of what transpired. “This environmental devastation will be visible from space for decades.”
Ohio right now
— UAE Exotic Falconry & Finance (@FalconryFinance) February 10, 2023
That's a giant cloud of polyvinyl chloride and a ton of other bad chemicals
The local police blew it up like a beached whale, now megatoxins are Chernobyling Ohio and there's a news blackout and the police are beating reporters and camera people and dragging em pic.twitter.com/yUYxNWhZ6H
(Related: In 2021, a bridge collapse caused a massive train derailment in Iowa.)
Fish, chickens and other animals near East Palestine DROP DEAD following train derailment
Evan Lambert is one of the reporters whom The Associated Press (AP) reported was “pushed to the ground, handcuffed and arrested for trespassing” while DeWine was delivering a speech at a local elementary school in East Palestine.
Police held Lambert for about five hours before releasing him from jail, after which he stated that:
“I’m doing fine right now. It’s been an extremely long day. No journalist expects to be arrested when you’re doing your job, and I think that’s really important that that doesn’t happen in our country.”
DeWine issued a statement about Lambert’s arrest as well, claiming he did not authorize the arrest and that reporters have “every right” to report during briefings such as the one he delivered.
Meanwhile, area animals are reportedly dropping dead. Fish are being found floating in rivers while chickens on nearby farms are being found keeled over with no signs of a predator – all because of the chemical plumes from the explosion, it appears.
“Channel 11” captured images and video of dead fish in a local creek while area farmers told the media that their livestock and other animals are suffering ever since the explosion.
A train has derailed in the Houston area.
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) February 13, 2023
Officials report the train was carrying "hazardous materials, prompting Union Pacific to monitor air quality at the site of the crash, according to the Splendora Police Department." pic.twitter.com/39XEGvTmpZ
“All the information and data to date is that it’s still been protective of the drinking water,” promised Kurt Koller, a representative from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA).
In other words, they want us to believe that everything is just fine while animals all around East Palestine give up the ghost. Here is what we know about phosgene, one of the two toxic chemicals – the other is hydrogen chloride – that authorities warned would be released during the controlled burn:
“Phosgene is a highly toxic, colorless gas with a strong odor that can cause vomiting and breathing trouble and was used as a weapon in World War I.
Phosgene is considered safe at 0.1 parts per million during an eight-hour exposure, or 0.2 ppm for a 15-minute exposure. The eight-hour exposure threshold would have to be even lower when measuring inside people’s homes, where residents often spend more than eight consecutive hours.”
Based on this, it would seem as though the dangers of the chemicals being released are understated, and that local and state authorities in Ohio are lying about the true toxicity of all this exposure. The whole thing is being downplayed, in other words – if it is even being reported on at all, thanks to a widespread media blackout about the incident.
Ohio’s Mahoning Valley will be toxic for many years to come
Unfortunately with incidents such as this, the toxic fallout is not easily remediable. Despite what authorities are claiming, there will be no way to clean up the area for quite some time, meaning water sources could remain toxic indefinitely.
“I’m beyond upset and quite panicked,” said Amanda Breshears, a local woman who lives in North Lima, located about 10 miles away from East Palestine, after discovering that five of her hens and a rooster had all dropped dead the morning of the explosion.
“They may be just chickens, but they’re family. For them to say the air quality is okay, I’m calling BS.”
The Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) released a statement claiming that Breshears is an anomaly rather than the norm as far as the agency is concerned, and that no other reports of dead animals have surfaced.
