On March 26, 2023, there was a hazardous train derailment in Wyndmere, North Dakota. 31 train cars were derailed and there were multiple chemicals that spilled as a result. These chemicals were liquid asphalt, ethylene glycol, and propylene. These are all chemicals that are highly flammable and should not be inhaled. However, it was deemed that because there are no nearby waterways that this spill was "contained." As if soil and air cannot be affected by such chemicals.
March 27, 2023, a train derails in San Bernardino County, California. This is a bit of an interesting derailment because there was no crew on the train. Oddly enough, Union Pacific (the company responsible for this derailment) had commented saying there were no hazardous materials on the train. However, a hazmat crew was deployed. Why would a hazmat crew respond if there truly were not any hazardous materials?
March 30, 2023, there was yet another train derailment in the United States. This one was in Raymond, Minnesota, and a hazmat crew was on the scene as several cars containing ethanol derailed and caused a fire that burned for more than fourteen hours. Reports say that groundwater was not contaminated, and as per usual by U.S. norms that means there is not an imminent threat posed to humanity.
April 1, 2023, a freight train derailed in Poughkeepsie, New York. While this did not contain hazardous materials, this did affect trains going to and from Poughkeepsie. Train schedules are expected to be affected by this derailment until Friday April 7.
April 2, 2023, there was a train derailment in Paradise, Montana. This derailment had around 25 cars derail, some of which ended up in the Clark Fork River. Most of what ended up in the river was Coors Light and Blue Moon. There was a hazmat crew on site due to a car filled with propane derailing, but this crew had determined that none was spilled. As of April 6, 2023, the clean-up will be nearing its completion. This includes getting the derailed cars out of the river, as well as picking up any debris. While officials have expressed that there is no threat or imminent harm from this derailment, how can anyone say that knowing the aquatic life in the Clark Fork River will be affected by the amounts of alcohol that spilled? Many forget that human lives are not the only lives on this planet. Alcohol is very harmful to fish because it burns their gills, which produces a painful death for them. From an ecocentric perspective, all life on Earth is interconnected. Human activity has affected lives of all kinds since our inception. How many more derailments can occur before humanity starts to see the imminent effects?
April 4, 2023, a train derails in Sardinia, Ohio. This train was carrying 390 tons of gravel and luckily nothing else. Thus, this derailment posed no risks to the community.
It is evident that there is little to no accountability when it comes to these derailments. It is asinine that business just returns as normal after each and every single derailment in the U.S. How many lives can these derailments affect before real legislative action is taken to mitigate these occurrences?
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