Yeah, that would be the main agency, but he is just now asking for extensive federal help, I'm guessing with other federal agencies. It may be an issue of federal monies that would be applied to the cleanup, but that should have been asked for early as well. Getting on the cleanup is urgent, just as much as identifying the problem, and causes.
Largest environmental disaster in US history ?
- Thread starter lawpoke87
- Start date
Weird deal. Would have thought the EPA being onsite would be responsible for determination of severity of spill and establishing and conducting cleanup. Find it odd the EPA wouldn’t be doing everything they thought was necessary to prevent further damage to the environment since they were onsite and engaged. Even though they are on-site are they required to wait on state authorization ?
🤷♂️
All I know is he requested federal help yesterday or today. I don't know how all the regulations/regulatory agencies/money applied works.
So the EPA who has been onsite since day 1 hasn’t commenced any type of cleanup because the Governor hadn’t requested federal help. If true it seems to be a breakdown on behalf of the Governor and Fed’s. Surely they haven’t sat around for a week doing nothing? If so, heads need to roll….state and Fed.
I just figured it just gets more people/funds involved in the cleanup. But yeah, if it's what you say, that would definitely be a breakdown of major proportions.
From an incident scene standpoint, the site had to be made secure with no active fire or smoldering material, and any remaining leaking rail cars addressed by removal of material from them. The cleanup will most likely occur after the wreckage is removed from the area as any contaminated earth will have to be removed for proper disposal.
A MIT air quality scientist said on NPR that the state and Feds were not doing the necessary level of testing to determine if the air quality was safe. Evidently the gold standards is sampling up wind, at the site, and downwind and analyzing in a lab the levels of harmful chemicals. The state is using less precise handheld monitors as a basis for telling everyone the air is safe despite the ugly odors that residents organizing protests around.
I understand the state possibly not having state of the art equipment. Not sure why the EPA isn’t using the latest and greatest. It’s all they do.
Most times the state environmental folks have excellent monitoring equipment as well and are the first responders because they are nearby. They can do the monitoring upwind and downwind as they have done with many incidents here in Texas. Maybe Ohio is not as well endowed with state of the art equipment?
Seems odd FEMA is refusing to help the people affected by the chemical spill.
FEMA withholds help as East Palestine seeks federal assistance
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine also requested assistance from multiple U.S. government agencies.
www.newsnationnow.com
Seems odd FEMA is refusing to help the people affected by the chemical spill.
FEMA withholds help as East Palestine seeks federal assistance
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine also requested assistance from multiple U.S. government agencies.www.newsnationnow.com
Can we say federal lawsuit?
It wouldn’t be the first time. FEMA has had spotty responses for years for hurricanes and other events, so this isn’t surprising at all.Seems odd FEMA is refusing to help the people affected by the chemical spill.
FEMA withholds help as East Palestine seeks federal assistance
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine also requested assistance from multiple U.S. government agencies.www.newsnationnow.com
Spotty responses is one thing. Telling these mostly poor people to F off takes spotty to a whole new level.
The New Orleans residents who suffered through the FEMA Katrina response would disagree. A few weeks later the response for hurricane Rita was much different.
This agency has a history and it is inconsistent in its response to various disasters.
There’s a big difference between a poor initial response and telling these people to kick sand. We’re not going to help you at all. If we can send billions in aid to help those in Ukraine surely we can also help people living in Ohio trying to cope with an environmental disaster. My hope is our government in the end will be shamed into calling FEMA in to help these people.
It wasn’t just a bad initial response in New Orleans, the bad start continued for weeks with an ineffective response. FEMA basically told the city and its residents to **** off.
At some point the railroad bears responsibility as well in this matter. Lawsuits will take time to resolve for any class action taken. Residents need help now.
Our government (FEMA) never told the people of New Orleans “we aren’t going to help you”. That is exactly what has occurred here to date. Again, how can we give billions to people in foreign countries but refuse to help our own when faced with a huge health and safety crisis? It’s absurd and those in charge should be ashamed.
Agree on the RR. The lawsuits will almost certainly come. The insurance companies will likely be forced into huge payouts. Hopefully the poor people who have been affected don’t take what is being offered in exchange for holding the RR harmless.
There are always a lot of lessons learned. There will be again this time.
Government- Response to Katrina
web.mit.edu
Footage showing a fiery axle 20 miles before East Palestine train derailment raises questions about alert timing
The Norfolk Southern train that derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, last week, setting aflame tankers of hazardous chemicals and prompting an evacuation...
www.post-gazette.com
Simple & cheap test verification, but you'd think they could have a functional infrared temperature gun on the train. An industrial brand that measures higher temps or consumer brand would probably do the trick. It wouldn't test the internal temperature of a wheel, but surface temperature should do what needs to be done. You just drop the temperature range that you are testing for down. They are $75 or less on amazon for industrial to consumer brands.
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Apparently candles are the cheapest test method and they are dual purpose for confirming flammable atmospheres.
Yeah they announced that he was going there a day or two ago.
Apparently the flaming axle was detected but the train did not stop in time before derailing being that it was nearly two miles in length.
www.axios.com
Ohio train derailment tied to overheated wheel bearing, report finds
The Feb. 3 derailment included 11 tank cars carrying at least five different types of chemicals.
www.axios.com
Did I miss the portion of the findings which stated the train would have stopped prior to derailing if it was say 1 mile in length?Apparently the flaming axle was detected but the train did not stop in time before derailing being that it was nearly two miles in length.
Ohio train derailment tied to overheated wheel bearing, report finds
The Feb. 3 derailment included 11 tank cars carrying at least five different types of chemicals.
The NTSB found:
- As the crew slowed the train to inspect cars for a hot axle, an automatic emergency brake application initiated, which may indicate the train experienced a separation during deceleration.
- Before starting to slow down, the crew received a critical audible alarm message indicating the temperature of a railcar wheel bearing was greater than 200°F above the ambient temperature at the time.
I read all of that. I didn’t see a finding that the derailment would have been prevented if the train was shorter than 2 miles long. Such a finding might be coming but any such statements at this point seem premature and unfounded
Which implies it is unsafe to have trains that long unless there is better braking equipment.
NTSB said they were in the process of slowing down the train when the emergency breaks were applied. Keep in mind I know zero about trains.
1). Were they trying to stop the train or simply slow it down in order to get a better look at the wheel in question? Asking because statement says slow it down.
2). Were they applying breaks at 100% or less? I assume there are variables in the breaking which dictate how quickly the train slows or stops.
3). The emergency breaks weren’t activated until after derailment ? Why not prior? How much quickly could the train have stopped?
Asking because I still haven’t seen any direct evidence citing the length of the train as the reason for the derailment despite what some posters are claiming.
