Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency in Rockcastle County following a multi-car train derailment on Wednesday that his office said resulted in a chemical spill.
Around 16 train cars were involved in the incident, including two carrying molten sulfur that ended up on fire, according to CSX, which operates the train.
“At approximately 2:23pm today, a CSX train derailed north of Livingston, KY. Preliminary information indicates that at least 16 cars were involved, including two molten sulphur cars that have been breached and have lost some of their contents which is on fire,” a statement from the company to ABC News read.
That’s actually safer. It will only do pretty localized damage. It won’t spread a huge cloud of poisonous gases.
Not to mention, in theory, moving something on a fixed track seems safer than any other alternatives we have. WAY safer than by truck or by plane.
If only we didn’t have such an outdated and monopolized rail in this country. THAT is what makes it unsafe. Capitalism.
I question how much work there has been in eliminating the need to transport these sort of chemicals long distances at all. I imagine it has a lot to do with cost, which, again, is a capitalism issue.
There is room for improvement, but I don’t think it should be characterized as “unsafe.”
https://usafacts.org/articles/are-train-derailments-becoming-more-common/
No one died in the immediate aftermath of East Palestine. Let’s talk about 10 years on.
OK, it will cool down eventually and leave a mess that would probably a nightmare to remove, but at least no poisonous fumes, that’s right.