How a Derailed Train Galvanized an Ohio Town, and Congress
3Description
On Feb. 3, a nearly two-mile long freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed near East Palestine, Ohio, a town of about 4,700 people.
The railroad company and local officials decided to do a chemical burn to neutralize the cargo, but as a giant plume of black smoke settled over the town, residents’ anger about the handling of the accident has intensified.
Guest: Emily Cochrane, a national correspondent for The New York Times.
Background reading:
- A bipartisan group of lawmakers has proposed that the Transportation Department impose stricter rules for freight rail.
- The derailment of a second train in Ohio — despite assurances that no hazardous materials had leaked — sharpened the questions about rail safety.
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Unbelievably disappointed in this story, which is now happening a lot on this podcast and with the NYT in general. You failed to mention that there is no federal standard in sensor temps in the railroad industry, and that Norfolk Southern has one of the highest limits in all of the industry. That in itself would help explain some of the derailments that Norfolk Southern is having, But you also failed to point out that by Congress in acting a federal standard in temperatures for the sensors that a lot of derailments would stop in general.