![]() ![]() While Biden has repeatedly touted the “Junk Fee Prevention Act” to save money on concert tickets and falsely accused Republicans of wanting to cut Social Security, he has made virtually no mention of the ecological disaster currently destroying the lives of thousands of families in the Midwest – a region Biden claims to care deeply about. Throughout this ordeal, Biden and the ever-elusive Buttigieg have been nowhere to be found. ![]() One longtime hazmat technician provided his own analysis: “We basically nuked a town with chemicals so we could get a railroad open.” Thus far, neither Norfolk-Southern representatives nor government officials have provided any explanation as to why purposely lighting the chemicals on fire, sending clouds of toxic black smoke into the atmosphere for multiple days, was the best alternative. While a New York Times story published on Tuesday suggested that the derailment itself ignited the burn, an NPR story from February 6 described the fire as a “controlled explosion,” with another local news story citing railroad officials saying that they purposely ignited the chemicals “to keep the tanker cars from exploding on their own.” ![]() Another woman found her chickens dead 10 miles from East Palestine days after the crash.Ĭonflicting reports have also emerged about the fires caused by the derailment. One man who raises exotic pets and lives outside the evacuation zone told Newsweek that several of his animals died as a result of exposure to the toxins. Those fears seemed to be confirmed on Monday when water quality workers found trace amounts of the chemicals from the crash in the Ohio River near Cincinnati. Other social media users in the area have reported contaminated water near their homes, raising concerns that the chemicals from the train could be leaking into local waterways that feed into the Ohio River – a fresh water source for 10% of the country’s population. But just hours later, CNN issued a tweet stating that “officials say residents of East Palestine, Ohio should drink bottled water.” The Marietta Times, citing “village officials,” said on Tuesday that the tap water in East Palestine is safe to consume. It is even unclear whether the water is safe to drink. Many residents have continued to report a sore throat, burning eyes and nostrils, and an overwhelming smell of chemicals in the air, even as officials say there is no immediate health threat. While the EPA and local authorities have said that water and air quality are no longer a concern, photos and videos have surfaced showing thousands of dead fish, frogs, and birds in the area around the crash. Nearly two weeks later, many questions remain unanswered, including whether it is truly safe for people to return to their homes. Residents were quickly ordered to evacuate as authorities scrambled to respond. The working-class town has a population of about 5,000 and is situated roughly 20 miles south of Youngstown on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border. Just after 9 pm on February 3, a Norfolk-Southern Railroad train carrying toxic chemicals crashed while passing through the village of East Palestine, releasing a flood of vinyl chloride, butyl acrylate, ethylhexyl acrylate, ethylene glycol monobutyl ethers, and other highly dangerous chemicals. The catastrophe, which has devastated the small community of East Palestine, marks the latest shameful failure from President Joe Biden and his woefully inept Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg. More than 10 days after a train derailment in northeast Ohio sent plumes of toxic black smoke billowing into the sky and potentially poisoned the air and waterways for hundreds of miles in every direction, the country is still without answers as to what caused the disaster and the potential ecological fallout from it. ![]()
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