Interesting post—for the “other perspective” here is the Zero Hedge article:
Feel free to rebut it if you wish.
I wish. Thanks for the link. I like Zero Hedge, for financial stuff. It's usually interesting information. I usually presume they are trying to be sensational in their claims. But, it's still interesting to see their claims. Twice a day, even a broken clock is correct. But, I am no financial expert. It will be good to check their veracity on a topic I DO know about.
For starters, their Headline, "Ohio Chernobyl" is ridiculous. But, headlines are designed to grab attention. So, I'll look past that. I would just say, Chernobyl is to East Palestine as 9/11 is to the 1993 WTC bombing. Both are bad. One is catastrophic.
Most of what they lead with, about the need for investigation, and the evidence that bearings were seizing up on one car before it approached Palestine, I fully agree with and am glad to see reported. There SHOULD be detailed, serious investigation to determine the ROOT cause of this. I have a former co-worker, and still good friend who works as an investigator for the NTSB. I'm confident that they will get to the bottom of this.
I'm also 100% confident that the people in that area have nothing to fear any more from VCM. The point raised about dioxins in an interesting one. For sure, yes... when any chlorinated solvents are burned, some level of dioxins are formed. And, dioxins seem to be potentially harmful, over the long run, at VERY low levels. But, I would expect any contamination of that sort to be very localized. It would only be in the area directly where the burn actually happened... not 100's of yards away. I would expect, much of that soil to be removed, incinerated, and disposed in a hazardous waste landfill. Therefore, NO long-term threat to the people that live around there.
As for the people, who are claiming to be sick? Let me just relate this story to you. Many years ago, I worked at a plant that had a MINOR anhydrous ammonia release from a large tank. The amount released was tiny. MAYBE, people standing at our fence line could have smelled it? I doubt it. But, the release was reported, and announced on the 10 PM news in Texas City, Tx. Within 30 minutes of the broadcast, people were showing up at local ER's, reeking of ammonia, claiming they has been affected. By midnight, there was ZERO aqueous ammonia available for sale on the shelves of any local grocery store. It was routinely sold then as a cleaning agent. Yes... people were buying it, splashing it on themselves, and then running the to hospital, claiming to have been exposed.
People KNOW there will be large legal settlements coming. They want a piece of the action. I have little doubt that the people closest to this accident will have some real impacts, and be deserving of some compensation. I also have little doubt that a BUNCH of people, miles away, will CLAIM to have awful impacts... and, be nothing more than hucksters.
There is no reason to believe that anyone more than a few miles away had, or will have, ANY significant impact from this awful spill.
If groundwater has been contaminated, they can drill wells, collect it, and dispose. If ground has been contaminated, they can dig it up, and safely dispose it. The air cleans itself VERY quickly, as long as the source is stopped.
I'd say Zero Hedge is about what I thought they were. Headline grabbers, looking for clicks, with SOME good information, and some sensational reports reflecting "worst case" scenarios. But, in this case, I'd say their 'worst case" is about was likely as Joe Biden winning and surviving a 2nd term... probably even less.
I’ve had to wait 25 years for a topic to arise on FR that I actually consider myself to be an “expert” about. No one knows EVERYTHING. But, I’m very happy to finally share my true expertise to this board, that I love. And to finally have a chance to educate others in ways that they have educated me.
There has always been a lot of ‘noise’ here at FR. But, there has also ALWAYS been people who KNEW WTF they were talking about. Usually, I’ve believed I could tell the difference. I think, most will be able to tell here too.