Norfolk Southern's Gaslighting Will Get People Killed

East Palestine derailment coverage you've all been waiting for

A warm welcome to all the newly joined subscribers at The Daily Beagle! We hope you enjoy your stay at The Daily Beagle!

Updates: The axle section has been updated with new information (thanks to Sim1776). Reference materials for gas masks has been added to the phosgene section.

Correction: The Daily Beagle had estimated 20 cars contained hazardous material, however a later Ohio press release has corrected that to 10.

Disclaimer: This does not constitute medical advice, speak with a medical professional. This does not constitute legal advice, speak with a legal professional.

At about 9PM EST, on 3rd Feburary, approximately 50 train cars derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. The derailment occured near State lines between Ohio and Pennsylvania. The railcars in question were freight being operated by Norfolk Southern Railway. We’ll get to their gaslighting on safety in time. First, the context.

10 of the cars involved in the crash reportedly had hazardous chemicals in them.

Emergency workers engaged in a supposedly “controlled breach” that resulted in an explosion, leaking chemicals vinyl chloride, ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, ethylhexyl acrylate, isobutylene and butyl acrylate, resulting in an evacuation order for East Palestine.

The Daily Beagle reached out to query where it was going and who it was for, with Norfolk Southern stating:

[…] this train was destined for Conway, PA […]

This would have arrived at the Norfolk Southern Conway Railyard next to the Ohio river if it had not derailed:

This is near Monaca, and South-East of East Palestine:

Norfolk Southern declined to name the customer who had ordered the shipment, but they added:

[…] Norfolk Southern is required by law to carry any freight, including hazardous materials […]

Why are you only hearing about this derailment now, more than 10 days later? The mainstream media are only just now covering it — sparsely — and online reports on social media are only just beginning to trickle in over the last few days.

That is because the police have been busy arresting journalists trying to do their job, and there is little information coming from the residents in the region. It is not clear to us why. But it may be due to the toxicity that they’re avoiding the area. Rightly so.

The Toxic Hazards

The biggest question on everybody’s lips ‘are the chemicals toxic?’. The Daily Beagle has been delving into the question. Short answer: yes. Here’s the long answer, starting with the least threatening chemicals and working our way up.

We won’t cover every minute possibility, but instead focus on the major factors.

• Ethylhexyl Acrylate: mostly an irritant

• Butyl Acrylate: mostly an irritant

• Isobutene: causes Central Nervous System (CNS) depression (read: makes your body’s neuron signals weaker which can lead to death), also possibly mutagenic and may cause cancer

• Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether: Acute Toxicity if swallowed (think water run-off and drinking water)

Then there’s this monstrosity…

Vinyl Chloride

Ignore the outlets conflating Vinyl Chloride with PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride). Poly is Greek for the word meaning ‘many’. Vinyl Chloride is a ‘monomer’ (mono, Greek for ‘one’), and PVC is a ‘polymer’, so chemically they are different. Vinyl Chloride is unstable and reactive, Polyvinyl Chloride is stable and largely non-reactive.

Vinyl Chloride is what’s leaking out of the railcars, and it is nasty stuff.

Boiling point of 7.9 °F (-13.4 °C), meaning it turns from liquid to gas at that temperature (read: gas at room temperature), it is thought to cause Central Nervous System depression by acting as a solvent on lipids and proteins found in neurons, although another study found it only impacted cholesterol and not lipids.

Raynaud’s syndrome

It can cause permanent liver injury and liver cancer, and prolonged exposure to Vinyl Chloride can cause symptoms characterised by Raynaud's phenomenon. In rats, it was shown to have a sex-bias with greater harms in males. The OSHA limit in general is a mere 1 ppm (8-hour TWA).

Vinyl Chloride that burns has another nasty party trick up their sleeve: it decomposes to hydrogen chloride, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and traces of phosgene. Also formaldehyde.

Acid Rain And A World War 1 Chemical Weapon

Hydrogen Chloride is a corrosive element which, when it binds with water vapour which produces hydrochloric acid (HCl), a powerful acid, capable of dissolving materials. This means any Hydrogen Chloride in the atmosphere will bind with water vapour and form acid rain.

One social media post reveals evidence of corrosion on the paint of a car after rain, even 70 miles away from East Palestine:

Pittburgh is South-East of East Palestine, and has a driving distance of ~52 miles.

If we zoom out and put an approximate ~75 mile radius circle over East Palestine we find it covers a very wide area, including Cleveland and Pittsburgh.

Wind direction likely impacts the clouds. One report mentioned ‘storm clouds’ (toxic vapour) as being in Darlington.

Quote from the video:

These aren't storm clouds. This is the f---ing s--t they burn off in East Palestine! This is over Darlington.

Darlington is at least 7 miles away from East Palestine, also towards the South-East:

It is highly probable that Hydrochloric Acid, along with the other noxious substances like Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether, can end up in rivers, water run-off, and potentially water supplies, creating toxicity in the water.

One poster offered this map to show the possible impacts downstream, spanning numerous States’ borders.

One social media reports that dead fish are being pulled from rivers outside of East Palestine, by trucked labeled “EnviroScience”, an Ohio company who provide “time-sensitive solutions to environmental challenges”.

Another news report mentions clean-up work of dead fish in the Leslie Run stream (whilst repeating the misleading claim the water is safe).

Another video shows footage of fish being pulled out of an Ohio river. The lady asks: “you guys scoopin’ out all the dead ones?”, and the man replies “we’re trying to”.

This is coming on the heels of other reports that thousands of residents are now rightly demanding testing, as a video shows footage of the dark, toxic clouds over the region.

Phosgene Was A World War 1 Chemical Weapon

A chemical weapon with the military designation of “CG”, at room temperature 70°F (21.1C) it is a poisonous gas that is denser than normal air, and therefore is more likely to affect low lying areas, with small animals and children more adversely affected than adults.

Symptoms can include, but are not limited to: Coughing, burning sensations in the throat and eyes, watery eyes, blurred vision, difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, causing burns and lesions in the lungs over time. There is currently no antidote for phosgene.

Only a suitably graded gas mask can prevent inhalation of phosgene (which The Daily Beagle is not able to advise on). You might find useful information on gas masks here.

One farmer, Taylor Holzer, reported the foxes he had been keeping, “developed watery eyes and puffy faces”, “started coughing really hard” and “just shut down”, which is symptomatically consistent with phosgene gas poisoning.

Foxes, like many animals such as dogs and cats, are typically low to the ground, and farms tend to be flat, often in low lying areas, making it an ideal area for the convalescing (gathering) for phosgene.

Now you understand the seriousness of the matter, lets get down to the crucial point.

Why Norfolk Southern's Gaslighting Will Get People Killed

Currently, regional officials are incorrectly declaring the areas safe, based on the gaslighting written by the Norfolk Southern Railway found in their FAQ, which is rife with factual inaccuracies.

One part of their FAQ reads:

I smell a strange odor; should I be worried?

Some of the substances associated with the derailment can be smelled even when instrument air monitoring findings are non-detect[sic] or below a level of concern. Similarly, non-hazardous materials can produce odors when on fire.  While these odors may be irritating, they do not indicate that you are being exposed. Air monitoring in the community is ongoing and will continue until clean-up is complete.

This is false.

The OSHA limit in general for Vinyl Chloride is a mere 1 ppm (8-hour TWA), where the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry notes:

It has a mild, sweet odor, but odor is not an adequate warning of hazardous concentrations.

That is because the gas has to reach fatal concentrations of 3000 ppm in order to smell the ‘mild, sweet odour’. As the page notes:

The odor threshold for vinyl chloride is about 3,000 ppm in air

So by the time you smell it, you will already be exposed to dangerous levels of Vinyl Chloride, 3000 times over the 1 ppm OSHA limit in an 8 hour working week. Meaning people will get killed if they follow Norfolk Southern’s advice.

So Norfolk Southern are wrong when they falsely and inaccurately declare that:

While these odors may be irritating, they do not indicate that you are being exposed.

In-fact, the opposite is true. If you smell a mild, sweet odour that wasn’t there before, you must get out, as it is likely the Vinyl Chloride exceeds safe levels.

The gaslighting continues. In another part of the FAQ:

Norfolk Southern inaccurately write:

Am I at risk for long-term health effects?

No – Short-term exposure to low levels of substances associated with the derailment does not present a long-term health risk to residents. Vinyl chloride and benzene may cause cancer in people exposed in the workplace to high concentrations for many years; however, there is no indication that any potential exposure that occurred after the derailment increases the risk of cancer or any other long-term health effects in community members.

This is false. Vinyl Chloride is dangerous above 1 ppm regardless of duration of exposure, and causes depression of the Central Nervous System if inhaled, damaging the liver, and poses long-term risks of cancer on the brain, liver and lungs, besides other risks, which are all long-term health risks.

It may also asphyxiate by the displacement of breathable air, or turn into hydrogen chloride, which in turn becomes hydrochloric acid via water or water vapour, causing burns on the body via acid rain.

Whilst The Daily Beagle could painstaking refute the endless garbage written by Norfolk Southern, these few examples should spur the public to demand that they present evidence of their spurious claims.

Claims like “At no point has air monitoring detected vinyl chloride.” — according to whose report, published where, using what instrumentation, sampled at what location? Even the question itself is laughably softball. Why would people be concerned about the smell and not the toxins?

After all, Norfolk Southern face a huge financial conflict of interest in downplaying this with dishonesty, as they’re liable for the damages. And you shouldn’t trust the public officials either, as they’re under the influence of Norfolk Southern.

Norfolk Southern Are Already Being Sued

The case Feezle et al v. Norfolk Southern Railway Co. et al was already filed on the 7th of February with the intention of becoming a class action lawsuit. It is one of many lawsuits, and it is very likely these lawsuits will get consolidated together as a class action given the magnitude.

Norfolk Southern had offered a laughably low bribe to the village of a mere $25,000, as if destroying their rivers is something a couple of thousand is going to fix. Estimates for clean up alone go into the millions. Norfolk Southern have since offered a million in reimbursements.

Lobbied To Weaken Regulations

What you likely don’t know is this isn’t the first time they’ve engaged in a type of bribery to get their way.

Norfolk Southern lobbied against Ohio legislation — one reason why you shouldn’t trust the public officials because they’re culpable too — their lobbying "helped kill a federal safety rule aimed at upgrading the rail industry’s Civil War-era braking systems". It was commented a good braking system would have reduced the severity of the crash.

They also have been cutting back staff to dangerous levels, with their services deteriorating back in 2021 due to crew shortages. An axle had broken off one of the cars, causing the others to derail. A further investigation into maintenance has already begun.

NTSB [National Transportation Safety Board] requested track inspection records, locomotive and railcar inspections and maintenance records, as well as training records from Norfolk Southern.

With fewer staff means less frequent repairs, and thus a much greater likelihood of a serious fault occurring.

According to videos from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the axles were malfunctioning for 20 miles before the derailment happened, as shown in this video:

The Post-Gazette posits they were on fire, but The Daily Beagle suspects they are sparks from several pieces of damaged metal interacting. We wonder if upon braking the axles came loose causing the derailment.

Highly flammable trains are also speed restricted:

All trains are limited to a maximum speed of 50 mph. The train is further limited to a maximum speed of 40 mph while that train travels within the limits of high-threat urban areas (HTUAs)

It is unclear if the train was in violation of the speed limit.

Hopefully this brings everyone up to speed on the situation in East Palestine. Members of the public ought to show their representatives this article so they can get a good sense of the scope of the issues at hand.

---

Subscribe to get more content like this from The Daily Beagle.

Learned something new? Think others might be interested?

And leave a comment below: