Free Republic

The situation in East Palestine, Ohio, is much worse than the media is letting on, particularly as it pertains to the widespread release of chemical dioxins. The 14 some-odd tanker cars carrying vinyl chloride that were intentionally blown up released a massive plume of these deadly chemicals, which were spread far and wide, including up the eastern seaboard through Pennsylvania, New York and beyond.Tens of millions of people stand to be affected by this dioxin release, which by and large appears to be the most disastrous dioxin incident to have ever occurred in world history. Water supplies, food crops, city...

The first question is, what was causing the pressure to build? Physically, there is no difference between a tank sitting on its wheels on a track and a tank lying on its side on the ground. There is nothing about a tank lying on the ground that would cause pressure to build. Was there a fire around the rail cars? I've seen nothing indicating that this was the case, nor is it likely there was a wild land fire in the middle of winter in Ohio. How did they know pressure was building? Were they monitoring a pressure gauge on...

What happened in East Palestine, Ohio is being called the worst environmental disaster in American history and the Biden administration is mostly ignoring it. Now members of congress are calling for Pete Buttigieg to be impeached.

Norfolk Southern Railroad and the Environmental Protection Agency released a list of chemicals and hazardous materials on Sunday carried by a train that derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. The derailment, which occurred on February 3, caused a fire that lasted several days. Officials decided to initiate a controlled release of the chemicals to mitigate the risk of an explosion; all residents within one mile of the crash site were told to evacuate, although they were permitted to return to their homes on February 8. Norfolk Southern provided the EPA with a list of cars affected by the crash and the...

Ronald Bailey'sColumns Happy Birthday, Love Canal (3/24) Weird Science (3/17) Should "Moral Vertigo" Make Biotech Fall Over? (3/10) Earlier Columns March 24, 2004 Happy Birthday, Love Canal Some disasters aren't all they're cracked up to be Ronald Bailey "The profound and devastating effects of the Love Canal tragedy, in terms of human health and suffering and environmental damage, cannot and probably will never be fully measured," began the 1978 special report, Love Canal: Public Health Time Bomb. That idea is still alive: "Love Canal Declared Clean, Ending Toxic Horror," ran the New York Times headline last week. The Times...

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. -- Twenty-five years ago an underground cauldron of chemical soup bubbled into local back yards and basements from an abandoned canal, forcing the relocation of 800 families and demolition of 300 homes. The discovery ignited fears of cancer and birth defects, gave rise to the Superfund law governing environmental cleanups and forever linked one name to toxic disasters: Love Canal. Today, parts of Love Canal are thriving. Pristine houses sit behind manicured lawns and pots of bright red geraniums. And in June the state agency charged with revitalizing the area officially disbanded. Still, the debate over whether...