02/16/2023 / By Ethan Huff
Environmentalist and public health and safety advocate Erin Brockovich took to Twitter this week to address the train derailment in Ohio, which she called “very serious.”
As she continues to gather information about what transpired, Brockovich is urging those who live in and around East Palestine to trust their gut instinct about what to do next.
“What I will say is this,” Brockovich wrote. “Trust your eyes, ears and nose and get the hell out of there if your senses are telling you too [sic].”
Famous for her successful 1993 groundwater contamination lawsuit against the Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E), which was the subject of the Oscar-winning film Erin Brockovich (2000), Brockovich is calling on the Biden regime to do more for the residents of East Palestine.
“The Biden administration needs to get more involved in this #PalestineOhio train derailment now,” she wrote in a separate tweet. “We are counting on you to break the chain of administration after administration to turn a blind eye.”
In 2016, Brockovich and the Environmental Working Group (EWG) wrote a letter to the EPA petitioning for a federal Maximum Contaminant Level for hexavalent chromium in drinking water.
“This is why people don’t trust government,” Brockovich further wrote in condemnation of the government’s duplicitous messaging concerning the controlled burn of the derailed train’s hazardous chemicals cars.
“You cannot tell people that there has been and continues to be hazardous pollutants contaminating the environment while at the same time saying ‘all is well.'”
Residents of East Palestine and nearby communities cannot rely on the authorities to help them, Brockovich maintains.
“Superman isn’t coming but you’re there,” is how she put it in another tweet. “Trust your instincts. Document everything you see. Band together as a community & demand answers. Organize a citizens committee. Demand a town hall. Keep the eyes of the nation on this.”
Residents of East Palestine did end up getting their town hall meeting, which was scheduled at 7pm on Wednesday, February 14. There was also a press conference in which the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) referenced video footage showing sparks and flames coming from underneath the Norfolk Southern train before it derailed.
Problems with the train’s rail car axles, explained NTSB board member Michael Graham, more than likely contributed to its derailment. A hotbox detector in nearby Salem picked up problems resulting in an alert being issued, which was then handled with an emergency brake application.
“Presently, the NTSB is reviewing the train’s data and audio recordings in order to examine the cause of the derailment and which hotbox detector indicated a mechanical error preceding the accident,” reports indicate. “The NTSB is expected to issue a preliminary report on its findings within 30 days.”
We currently know that 50 of the more than 100 cars on the train derailed, and 20 of those were carrying hazardous chemicals. Of those, 10 were detailed and five were found to contain pressurized vinyl chloride, a highly flammable carcinogenic gas.
The disaster could have been averted had the United States Department of Transportation (DoT) not approved a rule expanding the scope of hazardous materials that are allowed to be transported by train.
“The rule made it permissible for liquefied natural gas to be shipped by train without additional safety regulations,” reports explain. “This enables freight trains to transport 100 more tank cars with up to 30,000 gallons of the natural gas extracted from shale fields.”
Keep in mind that the very same government now pushing to outlaw gas stoves for “public health” reasons paved the way for this disaster to occur with its failed transport policies for hazardous chemicals.
The latest news about the environmental catastrophe in East Palestine can be found at Disaster.news.
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Tagged Under:
big government, chemicals, controlled explosion, dangerous, derailment, East Palestine, environ, Erin Brockovich, ohio, toxins, train, Vinyl chloride
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