Environmental Health

"Ohio Sues Norfolk Southern Over Toxic Train Derailment"

"Ohio filed a lawsuit against railroad Norfolk Southern to make sure it pays for the cleanup and environmental damage caused by a fiery train derailment on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border last month, the state’s attorney general said Tuesday."

Source: AP, 03/15/2023

In Rail Hazmat Crashes, Small Town Firefighters Can Be Vulnerable

"Accidents that result in the release of hazardous materials are rare, but when trains do crash, the consequences can be serious. Most of the recent ones that caused evacuations have happened near small communities, NPR found. Local firefighters who respond are uniquely vulnerable to the effects. But across the country, they are often under-prepared to handle the chemicals when they come off the tracks."

Source: NPR, 03/14/2023

"Ukraine War’s Environmental Toll Will Devastate Lives For Decades"

"Gregoriy Sidorenko watched in disbelief as the Russian cruise missile slammed into storage tank number four at the oil depot here, sending enormous plumes of black smoke overhead and sparking a massive fire that would last roughly 16 hours. More than 1 million gallons of oil from eight incinerated tanks seeped into the soil, raising concerns about potential contamination at a nearby drinking water reservoir in this industrial city about 200 miles south of Kyiv."

Source: Washington Post, 03/13/2023

Company Testing Air in East Palestine Homes Was Hired by Norfolk Southern

"Last month, Brenda Foster stood on the railroad tracks at the edge of her yard in East Palestine, Ohio, and watched a smoky inferno billow from the wreckage of a derailed train. The chemicals it was carrying — and the fire that consumed them — were so toxic that the entire area had to evacuate."

Source: ProPublica, 03/13/2023

Finding the Secret Rail Hazmat Routes Near You

Under federal rules, states can decide whether to divulge information about hazardous materials rolling along their railways — and mostly they don’t. Not knowing where and when hazmat trains are traveling or what’s on board creates anxiety and raises the risk for those who live near the tracks. TipSheet offers resources and step-by-step instructions for investigating railway hazmat threats to your community.

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"House GOP Votes To Overturn Biden Rule On Water Protections"

"The House on Thursday voted to overturn the Biden administration’s protections for thousands of small streams, wetlands and other waterways, advancing long-held Republican arguments that the regulations are an environmental overreach and burden to business."

Source: AP, 03/10/2023

Senate Panel That Grilled Norfolk Southern CEO Is Awash In Company's Cash

"Norfolk Southern’s corporate PAC has donated more than $375,000 to members of the Senate committee that grilled the railroad’s chief executive on Thursday about the toxic derailment of one of the company’s trains in East Palestine, Ohio."

Source: HuffPost, 03/10/2023

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