“I can tell you this much—This was 100% preventable.”
NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued its preliminary report Thursday about the toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, earlier this month. Thirty-eight cars derailed in the February 3 crash, including 11 tank cars carrying chemicals, including vinyl chloride.
One would think that with a 150-car train wreck including toxic chemicals, and smoke billowing from a massive black cloud, the Biden administration, along with the rail firm responsible, would immediately respond to protect those directly involved in the situation, as well as the thousands of Americans and wildlife potentially affected by the disaster. But, unfortunately, in Joe Biden’s America with Pete Buttigieg as Transportation Secretary, the people of East Palestine were largely ignored by the media and the Biden administration until nearly three weeks later when a preliminary report of the crash was released.
Pete Buttigieg needs to do his job, be fired, or resign!
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued its preliminary report Thursday morning about the toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, earlier this month. Thirty-eight cars derailed in the February 3 crash, including 11 tank cars carrying chemicals, including vinyl chloride.
The board released the initial findings from its investigation three weeks after a freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed and spilled chemicals into the air, water, and soil. Five derailed cars contained vinyl chloride, which Norfolk Southern officials discharged through a controlled venting to release and burn to prevent an explosion.
The report does not give a cause of the derailment causing the toxic spill yet, but it cites crucial evidence gathered as part of the investigation, which remains ongoing.
“I can tell you this much: This was 100% preventable,” NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said during a news conference Thursday.
The crew of the Norfolk Southern train that derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, became aware of an overheated axle just moments before the wreck and tried to stop the train, the National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday.
Here’s a summary of what the NTSB preliminary report says:
- An axle had been heating up as the train traveled down the tracks.
- The warning threshold was not previously met: It was not hot enough to prompt a warning to stop the train for an inspection until just before the derailment.
- An automated system notified the train’s crew to stop the locomotive and inspect the car with the overheated bearing.
- Crew members tried to slow the train down, and automatic brakes kicked in, but by the time the train was stopped, cars carrying chemicals, such as vinyl chloride, had already left the tracks.
According to the NTSB report, the train traveled through East Palestine on February 3 at about 47 mph at the derailment, less than the maximum authorized speed of 50 mph. As the train traveled, a hot bearing detector along the railroad issued an alarm instructing the crew to slow down and stop to inspect a hot axle.
The train was operating with a dynamic brake application as the train passed a wayside defect detector on the east side of Palestine, Ohio. The wayside defect detector, or hot bearing detector (HBD), transmitted a critical alarm message instructing the crew to slow and stop the train to inspect a hot axle. As a result, the train engineer increased the dynamic brake application to slow further and stop the train. An automatic emergency brake application was initiated during this deceleration, and the train stopped.
After the train stopped, the crew observed fire and smoke and notified the Cleveland East dispatcher of a possible derailment. With dispatcher authorization, the crew applied handbrakes to the two railcars at the head of the train, uncoupled the head-end locomotives, and moved the locomotives about 1 mile from the uncoupled railcars. Responders arrived at the derailment site and began response efforts.
On February 5, responders mitigated the fire. Still, five derailed DOT-105specification tank cars (railcars 28–31 and 55) carrying 115,580 gallons of vinyl chloride continued to concern authorities because the temperature inside one tank car was still rising. This increase in temperature suggested that the vinyl chloride was undergoing a polymerization reaction, which could pose an explosion hazard. As a result, responders scheduled a controlled venting of the five vinyl chloride tank cars to release and burn the vinyl chloride, expanded the evacuation zone to a 1-mile by 2-mile area, and dug ditches to contain released vinyl chloride liquid while it vaporized and burned. The controlled venting began at about 4:40 p.m. on February 6 and continued for several hours. While on the scene, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators examined railroad equipment and track conditions and reviewed data from the signal.
The NTSB’s investigation is ongoing. Future investigative activity will focus on the wheelset and bearing; tank car design and derailment damage; a review of the accident response, including the venting and burning of the vinyl chloride; railcar design and maintenance procedures and practices; NS use of wayside defect detectors; and NS railcar inspection practices.
The situation created an ongoing ecological disaster, mostly ignored by the national media and the White House until President Trump announced his plans to visit the victims.
100 Percent Fed UP reported on Wednesday that President Donald Trump landed in East Palestine, Ohio, bringing water, supplies, and hope to the citizens of East Palestine. The residents and local leaders have expressed frustration about the federal government’s response after the train derailment caused poisonous chemicals to contaminate the air and water. Joe Biden hasn’t so much as mentioned the town, much less visited it. The city is struggling to acquire aid from the federal government, which has already denied emergency aid to the community.
President Trump Delivers Clean Water and Brutal Message to Joe Biden During Visit to Victims of East Palestine [VIDEO]
On Thursday, 100 Percent Fed Up reported that the Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg finally traveled to East Palestine, Ohio, after a major train derailment released toxic chemicals into the air and water supply. Buttigieg’s visit comes just one day after former President Donald Trump visited the disaster site and 20 days after the disaster.
1oo Percent Fed Up also reported on The View’s Thursday show where Joy Behar stooped to a new low when she said that East Palestine, Ohio residents ‘deserve’ the potentially deadly consequences of a train derailment that happened in the town earlier this month because they voted for Trump.
SICK! “The View” Hag Joy Behar Suggests East Palestine Residents ‘Deserved’ Train Derailment Because They Voted For Trump [VIDEO]
