Unicorn RiotFeb 14, 2023
NEW VIDEO: The Chemical Disaster in East Palestine, Ohio [10min] - <Premiering now>
#EastPalestineIncident #EastPalestineIncident #norfolksoutherndisaster #NorfolkSouthern https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCqu5oMxTZg
The Chemical Disaster in East Palestine, Ohio

YouTube
Show threadUnicorn RiotFeb 14, 2023
A major chemical disaster displaced around 2,000 people for days. Residents living dozens of miles away could smell chlorine-like odors . A Norfolk Southern train carrying the carcinogenic chemical vinyl chloride derailed and train cars crumpled
VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=nCqu5oMxTZg
The Chemical Disaster in East Palestine, Ohio

YouTube
Show threadUnicorn RiotFeb 14, 2023
Late on Monday, Feb. 6, enormous columns of dense smoke rose from the site after authorities generated a “controlled” explosion, as they said pressure buildups risked more debris from a larger uncontrolled one. #eastpalestine
>> Full Report: https://unicornriot.ninja/2023/like-the-doors-of-hell-were-open-east-palestine-train-disaster-casts-toxic-cloud-over-future-of-oh-pa-region/
'Like the Doors of Hell Were Open': East Palestine Train Disaster Casts Toxic Cloud Over Future of OH/PA Region - UNICORN RIOT

Vinyl Chloride & Byproducts like Phosgene Risk Damaging Wide Area

UNICORN RIOT
Show threadUnicorn RiotFeb 14, 2023
New report: Look at deadly chemicals, evidence, crisis management, derailments & political influence of #NorfolkSouthern leading up to the disaster. The dark toxic cloud spilled to western PA, then largely pushed north-Ohio’s Mahoning & Trumbull counties #eastpalestine
https://unicornriot.ninja/2023/like-the-doors-of-hell-were-open-east-palestine-train-disaster-casts-toxic-cloud-over-future-of-oh-pa-region/
'Like the Doors of Hell Were Open': East Palestine Train Disaster Casts Toxic Cloud Over Future of OH/PA Region - UNICORN RIOT

Vinyl Chloride & Byproducts like Phosgene Risk Damaging Wide Area

UNICORN RIOT
Show threadUnicorn RiotFeb 14, 2023
Nearby residents at the fringes of the evacuation zone described unsettling physical reactions, sensations in their lungs and palpable residues. By Friday people in the region were still experiencing health effects. Reports of dead fish, chickens, and at least one fox mounted.
Show threadUnicorn RiotFeb 14, 2023
According to Mahoning County Hazmat Chief Steve Szekely, the disaster was “like the doors of hell were open… flames were shooting up in the air at least 100 feet… We didn’t know what chemicals there were. But once on the scene, we can smell. You can smell it in the air that there was something.”
Show threadUnicorn RiotFeb 14, 2023
➡️NEW Report Sections:
“Nothing Alarming” Said Authorities | Glowing Train 20 Miles From Site | Rail Labor Flags Lack of Safety | Freight Rail Future Dark & Cloudy | Missing Chemical Manifest Shows Evasive Practices | Rail PACs, Coal Promoting ⬅️
https://unicornriot.ninja/2023/like-the-doors-of-hell-were-open-east-palestine-train-disaster-casts-toxic-cloud-over-future-of-oh-pa-region/ #eastpalestine
'Like the Doors of Hell Were Open': East Palestine Train Disaster Casts Toxic Cloud Over Future of OH/PA Region - UNICORN RIOT

Vinyl Chloride & Byproducts like Phosgene Risk Damaging Wide Area

UNICORN RIOT
Show threadUnicorn RiotFeb 14, 2023

Ohio governor Mike DeWine said on Sunday, Feb. 5, “You need to leave, you just need to leave. This is a matter of life and death.” Police and the Ohio National Guard sealed off the area.

The governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, warned around 1:30 p.m. Monday, “If you are in this red zone that is on the map and you refuse to evacuate, you are risking death. This is very serious. ... You risk permanent lung damage within a matter of hours or days.” #eastpalestine

Show threadUnicorn RiotFeb 14, 2023
but by 8:07 p.m. Monday PA's Emergency Management Agency posted, “we are being told that everything was carried out according to plan. … Both
@PennsylvaniaDEP
and
@EPA
are monitoring air and water quality and have detected nothing alarming.” https://twitter.com/PEMAHQ/status/1622763836502581250
PA Emergency Management Agency on Twitter

“Both @PennsylvaniaDEP and @EPA are monitoring air and water quality and have detected nothing alarming. Out of an abundance of caution, everyone within 2 miles of the evacuation zone who was asked to remain indoors should continue to shelter in place.”

Twitter
Show threadUnicorn RiotFeb 14, 2023
A WKBN27 report late on Feb. 6 said emergency managers didn’t consider the vinyl chloride-laden cloud “toxic or dangerous.” Another report released late on the 6th featured residents saying “I think they hid things from us,” expecting damage to be permanent. #EastPalestineIncident
Show threadUnicorn Riot
That same night on WKBN27, a TV anchor smelled it outside the station. Mahoning County Commissioner Anthony Traficanti struck a note of caution about the “very toxic” “plume of poison” warning people should shelter as “advisement,” not an official order.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8npCWk-6i9s
'Shelter in place': Officials advising Valley residents stay indoors

YouTube
Feb 14, 2023 at 6:37amWeb
Show threadUnicorn RiotFeb 14, 2023
Jim Kosior, a nearby resident of Darlington, PA, provided Unicorn Riot with videos he filmed over the days of the disaster and on Feb. 7 described experiencing the toxic chemicals with his wife:
Full story - https://unicornriot.ninja/2023/like-the-doors-of-hell-were-open-east-palestine-train-disaster-casts-toxic-cloud-over-future-of-oh-pa-region/
'Like the Doors of Hell Were Open': East Palestine Train Disaster Casts Toxic Cloud Over Future of OH/PA Region - UNICORN RIOT

Vinyl Chloride & Byproducts like Phosgene Risk Damaging Wide Area

UNICORN RIOT
Show threadUnicorn RiotFeb 14, 2023
A dark cloud of toxic chemicals over Darlington, PA after the 'controlled release' blast late last Monday. (Brightness enhanced.) Source: Jim Kosior
#EastPalestineIncident #EastPalestineOhio #eastpalestinedisaster #ChemicalDisaster #Chemicalspill #vinylchloride
Show threadUnicorn RiotFeb 14, 2023
In combustion, #VinylChloride can turn into deadly #phosgene (Carbonyl chloride), one of the main chemical weapons used in World War I. It shows the recklessness of authorities--phosgene’s likely presence from the crucible of the burning train cars has largely been ignored.
Show threadUnicorn RiotFeb 14, 2023
Vinyl chloride’s other byproduct, hydrogen chloride, is unstable acidic gas and reacts with water to form hydrochloric acid.
Importantly, these chemicals are heavier than air and can settle in low lying areas like basements. #eastpalestine #vinylchloride #hydrochloricAcid #hydrogenchloride
Show threadUnicorn RiotFeb 14, 2023
The story is still moving fast:
In the last 48 hours the EPA added ethylhexyl acrylate, ethylene glycol monobutyl ether and butyl acrylate to the list of toxic chemicals that leaked. A Morning Journal News editorial said this should put more pressure on the railroad company. #eastpalestine #ChemicalDisaster #chemicalspill #disaster #ethylene #epa #environment
Show threadUnicorn RiotFeb 14, 2023
A February 12 report from WFMJ says locals are demanding long-term testing beyond a 1-mile radius. Hazardous material expert Sil Caggiano told WKBN-27, “We basically nuked a town with chemicals so we could get a railroad open.” #eastpalestinedisaster
https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1625127468494467072
The Recount on Twitter

“"We basically nuked a town with chemicals so we could get a railroad open." — Sil Caggiano, hazardous materials specialist, on the dangerous chemicals on board the Norfolk Southern train that derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, just over a week ago Watch this in full:”

Twitter
Show threadUnicorn RiotFeb 14, 2023
Sil Caggiano warned residents to get health checkups for documentation as #cancer clusters could develop in future years.
Many observers suspect #NorfolkSouthern prioritized a quick cleanup over a slower, more careful one — which would have blocked the line’s reopening longer.
Show threadUnicorn RiotFeb 14, 2023
It appears that videos from Salem, Ohio, show glowing or fiery conditions on a car of the soon-derailed Norfolk Southern train at least 20 miles away from the disaster site.
A security camera at Butech Bliss showed bright light from the “hot box” axle overheating. #eastpalestine
Show threadUnicorn RiotFeb 14, 2023
Many rail workers believe owners have made the trains too long, which makes it impossible to spot conditions like brightly glowing 'hotboxes' as in this disaster -- axles grinding that can reach 100s if not 1000+ degrees overheating.
Show threadUnicorn RiotFeb 14, 2023
A Feb. 10 report in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette shows a hot box detector near a Salem meat processing plant called Fresh Mark should have been triggered, and the train should have stopped there immediately.
Unicorn Riot found an image passed around by local residents, ostensibly from the Fresh Mark facility.
Show threadUnicorn RiotFeb 14, 2023
The lack of safety comes as little surprise to long-beleaguered union railroad workers, who got saddled in December with a deal forcibly imposed by Congress and the White House that does not even include sick leave.
Show threadUnicorn RiotFeb 14, 2023
Railroad companies have splurged on billions in stock buybacks amid record net profits. By slamming workers with “precision scheduling“, massive layoffs and now exhausting long shifts are institutionalized while damaging supply chain stability.
Show threadUnicorn RiotFeb 14, 2023
Railroad Workers United, a labor caucus with members in all U.S. rail unions, blamed the #eastpalestine disaster both precision scheduling and the way weight was distributed:
Show threadUnicorn RiotFeb 14, 2023
On Wednesday, West Virginia Governor Jim Justice said that the town of Weirton along the Ohio River had to switch its water supply due to contamination from the disaster, although local officials say water is currently safe. An Ohio River source, the Little Beaver Creek, which has long faced pollution issues, seems to be experiencing fish kills from the toxic event.
Show threadUnicorn RiotFeb 14, 2023
WKBN independently verified dead fish in Leslie Run, which comes out of East Palestine and heads downstream in Bull Creek. Endangered hellbender salamanders may be threatened by toxic chemicals as well. #EastPalestineOH #ToxicCloud #vinylchloride #ChemicalDisaster
Show threadUnicorn RiotFeb 14, 2023
Check our our full report on #EastPalestine:
Sections: “Nothing Alarming” Said Authorities | Videos Show Glowing Train 20 Miles From Site | Rail Labor Flags Lack of Safety | Freight Future Looks Dark | Missing Chemical Manifest Shows Evasive Practices | Freight Rail Coal Promoting
https://unicornriot.ninja/2023/like-the-doors-of-hell-were-open-east-palestine-train-disaster-casts-toxic-cloud-over-future-of-oh-pa-region/
'Like the Doors of Hell Were Open': East Palestine Train Disaster Casts Toxic Cloud Over Future of OH/PA Region - UNICORN RIOT

Vinyl Chloride & Byproducts like Phosgene Risk Damaging Wide Area

UNICORN RIOT
Show threadMarta(trama)Feb 14, 2023
@UnicornRiot would you have any info on what's the end use of these of the chemicals transported?
Show threadOrcFeb 14, 2023

@Martatrama @UnicornRiot Plastic. Many, maybe most, of those cars were carrying ingredients for making various plastics, and alllll that carbon got hoisted into the sky when it burned.

(Otoh, the VC in those deliberately breached tankers is heavier than air and would happily flow into low-lying areas and suffocate anything that can't get away. It diffuses, then decomposes, quickly enough so that it's not a lingering problem, but in the short term it can be pretty bad.)

NTSA (I believe) released the bill of lading that NS provided, and I believe that's accurate because lying to the feds would not go well for them if anyone involved leaked an actual invoice. The executives might be dumb enough to try it, but the lawyers would bail from that exploding ship faster than you could say jack robinson.

Show threadOrcFeb 14, 2023

@UnicornRiot Ah yes, but line goes up at least until the next quarterly revenue estimates.

G-d willing, the stock market will be spooked when the lawsuits come rolling in, so the venture capitalists will get enough of a haircut so they panic and dump what they thought was a cash cow.

Show threadLisaFeb 14, 2023

@UnicornRiot Palestine is about 2.5 hrs from me and less than 60 miles from Pittsburgh Pa.

I don't blame ppl for not wanting to return to their homes. Thanks to Trump era EPA deregulation, far from safe!