 These aren't These aren't these aren't storm clouds This is the that they burn off the They burn off and he's Palestine. This is not Look at it This is over Darlington the scene in and around East Palestine Ohio is genuinely apocalyptic looking and seeing these photographs is Chilling because you know that this is an ecological disaster on a massive scale still to be determined But what makes matters worse is that it feels like residents are being gaslit And they're being told that everything is copacetic. They can return home when it's obvious that that's not actually true So this story is genuinely disturbing and I hope that more people pay attention to it because what we're witnessing here can happen anywhere and it's happening in the united states And these residents here They're essentially powerless in this situation So as jake johnson of common dreams explains residents of east palestine, ohio are voicing alarm and mistrust of officials After a 150 car train carrying hazardous materials including vinyl chloride crashed in their small town prompting emergency evacuations and a controlled release of chemicals into the air to prevent a catastrophic explosion Norfolk southern the company that owns the derailed train has insisted that public health is not at risk A sentiment echoed by local authorities just five days after the fiery crash Top officials including ohio's republican governor mike twine Effectively gave the all-clear telling residents they can safely return home Many lacking viable alternatives due to their limited resources and incomes have done just that despite lingering fears Of the impacts that the train crash and subsequent unleashing of toxic gases into the atmosphere may have had on their town Some have reported strong chemical odors and unsettling sites such as a stream blackened by substances released from the train and dead fish Now to be clear residents were told to evacuate if they lived within a one to two mile radius of the controlled explosion And they were very quickly told to return home But those residents are still saying they don't feel safe there But they're being instructed to open the windows wipe off surfaces And it's not just residents within that area residents all around east palestin and even outside of east palestin are saying This doesn't feel right. We smell an odor one family told the washington post that it smells like a combination of nail polish remover and burning tires and it's causing headaches and nausea and That's for good reason. It's because the burning of vinyl chloride Is potentially very dangerous. Now, that's the chemical in question that a lot of people are worried about now vinyl chloride is made is used to make PVC pipes and whatnot and long-term exposure to this Can lead to a lot of health issues. It's linked to cancers such as liver cancer But it's really toxic in particular when it's burned as ap explains Officials warned the controlled burn would send a phosphine and hydrogen chloride into the air Phosphine is a highly toxic colorless gas with a strong odor that can cause vomiting and breathing trouble And was used as a weapon in world war one So this was used as a weapon in world war one and residents in east palestin are being told it's perfectly fine If they breathe this in we don't know how long these chemicals are going to linger how long this will actually affect them There's a fundamental lack of transparency here that's making the situation a lot more ominous and You don't have to be a genius to know that the situation just doesn't feel right Jordan chariden of status coup spoke to one resident who explained that his pets Are experiencing a lot of health issues. One of them even died as a result of the chemicals You've basically been taking Your animals to the vet back and forth back and forth I want to show an image you posted of one That looks pretty ill That's one of your foxes there swollen face runny eyes coughing Another one unfortunately passed away this is Kiran Was the fox's name? Did the vet did the vet? Sorry by the way, that's terrible Did the vet talk about what they think was it the smoke they they were inhaling? What do they think is making them sick? So far the vet they've tested the blood levels and There's raised liver enzymes and the chloride levels in the blood are on the high end of normal And the lungs are inflamed all of that is Like in line with vinyl chloride exposure there's The eye irritation and there is Neurological issues going on which is also things that can happen from the chloride of vinyl chloride exposure Um, the one that passed away. They have been talking to Universities to make sure that they do the necropsy correctly and don't lose any of the like tissues And don't mess up any of the samples and they make everything go how it needs to go to have the information preserved So that anything that is there can be used Um, the one I have one fox that has come home so far from the vet and she still isn't 100 but she's doing a lot better and Hopefully other ones are all going to make it but one like has a lot of neurological problems and She so far is seeming like she's not going to be herself again from everything And I have others that also have neurological issues that Just they're not themselves at all from it and I'm really worried. I'm sorry, but that is not normal That is not a normal phenomenon Now with each passing day It seems more and more terrible to instruct citizens to return to their homes considering that we're still learning About what's going on there and we're still discovering more chemicals. That's the worst part So a local abc news affiliate reported that additional toxins have actually been identified including Ethylexal acrylate, which is a carcinogen that causes irritation and burning when it comes into contact with the skin And it can also cause shortness of breath when it's inhaled and also isobutylene Which can cause dizziness when inhaled and if that wasn't already bad enough a local fox news affiliate reports That east palestin residents are being warned that water may actually be at risk as well And this warning came again after they were told that it was safe to return home So now the water may be at risk. They're discovering more chemicals. There are reports that animals have been affected And yet nope, it's okay. You can return home This is Not right. This is not okay. And The residents aren't stupid. They know that it's not safe to return home But the problem is that some of them don't have a choice So one family spoke to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette And they said that you can actually smell the chemicals through the water Quote it was gagging my 16 year old niece. It was so strong. She said another said they want to leave But they don't have a choice quote. I don't want to take my kids back to that She said none of us have the money to completely start over somewhere We're not going to have a choice but to take our children back to that place and it's not fair So they're essentially powerless in this situation. They're powerless They're being told that it's safe for them to return home just wipe down surfaces open windows and you'll be fine And they know that that's not right They can feel the way that it affects them. They could smell the chemicals, but they don't have a choice They don't have money now What should be happening is the company should foot the bill for their hotels Get them out of that area for the foreseeable future but Here's how they're taking responsibility You want to know how with a $25,000 donation to the Red Cross? Seriously, that's what Norfolk Southern decided to donate. That's their way of Taking responsibility for their action here. It's almost an insult right the audacity of some of these corporations Oh, you know, we're sorry that we poisoned your entire town, but here's a $25,000 donation to the Red Cross Does that make you feel any better? What do you even say to that? What do you even say to that? Now there is a reason why this happened and it's because Rail companies are choosing to put profits over people and the communities that they're supposed to be serving Now the rail workers union actually released a press statement saying exactly why this took place blaming wall street's motives here The root causes of this wreck are the same ones that have been singled out repeatedly Associated with the hedge fund initiated operating model known as precision scheduled railroading But risky practices such as ever longer and heavier trains even precede psr The train that wrecked is a case in point 9300 feet long 18,000 tons other hallmarks of modern-day railroading include deep cuts both to maintenance and operating employees Poor customer service deferred maintenance to rolling stock and infrastructure Long working hours and chronic fatigue limited on the job training and high employee turnover They continue at this time the immediate cause of the wreck appears to have been a 19th century style mechanical failure Of the axle on one of the cars an overheated bearing Leading to derailment and then jackknifing tumbling cars There is no way in the 21st century save from a combination of incompetence and disregard for public safety That's such a defect should still be threatening our communities But yet here we are and at the time that I record this video Transportation secretary pita judge has still not even called for the return of an obama era regulation That mandated the use of better braking technology or at least expanded the use of better braking technology And there's a write-up about this in the lever, which is really informative. I'll encourage you to read that We have this really sketchy situation taking place where Residents can smell the effect that these chemicals have had on their communities. They can see that things aren't right They're being told to return home. And yet There's not a lot of attention on this and as if the situation wasn't already stinking news nation reporter evan lambart was arrested during a press conference for republican governor mike dewine And they claimed that he was arrested for criminal trespassing and disorderly conduct. Why? Well, because reporters were instructed to not speak during the press conference But he was being too loud. Therefore he was arrested and of course police were incredibly aggressive and brutal and That makes the situation even more suspicious now to be fair governor mike dewine says that this arrest was Not necessary. It was bad. He doesn't like that it happened But still when you have this ominous situation And you feel as if local authorities aren't giving you the full details They're not giving you all of the information that's needed to determine for yourself whether or not the situation is safe And when you have this company not taking responsibility It kind of feels like this is all this broad cover-up effort and you're being gaslit in the process and the arrest You know the silver lining at least was that it brought more attention to this particular story But either way this is not normal and it doesn't seem safe for the residents to be there We don't know how long it's going to be unsafe, but certainly currently It doesn't seem safe, but I mean what choice do these residents have? They don't have the money so you can go to a different area sleep on the streets or you can stay home where your things are and just uh Cross your fingers and hope that the local authorities Are being honest and they're not telling you to return home when it's not actually safe But if we learned anything especially from the flint water crisis is that You can't necessarily trust what these authorities tell you and sometimes Don't just be skeptical for the sake of being skeptical trust your eyes, right? They saw how the water was orange and contaminated with lead and flint and residents in east palestin are seeing That This isn't over they could smell the chemicals the water is at risk now And it was a bad idea for them to return home So there needs to be accountability and this is going to be a scandal that lasts for years because I don't even think we're going to uncover How disastrous this really was until years down the line and just knowing currently that people are being poisoned and They're forced to stay there is genuinely sickening in the richest country on the planet, but I can't say i'm surprised because in this country Prophets are prioritized over people so this could have been avoided It wasn't and even after the catastrophe people are being told that it's fine when it's very clearly not so it's it's horrifying, but Here we are