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Is the Ohio Train Derailment Biden’s Chernobyl Moment?

[Photo Credit: By National Transportation Safety Board - https://reuters.com/world/us/ohio-carry-out-controlled-release-chemicals-train-derailment-site-2023-02-06 (direct link), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=128540829]

On February 3rd, 2023, a historic disaster occurred in East Palestine, Ohio, causing significant damage to the ecology of the area in addition to the health of the local population, damage so severe we may not fully appreciate its true extent for year.

The incident, which involved several derailed train cars, resulted in the spillage of a shocking amount of hazardous chemicals and prompted the evacuation of hundreds of residents.

The actual cause of the derailment is still technically under investigation, but initial reports indicate that it was caused by a mere  broken axle. An axle which may come to symbolize the neglect America’s infrastructure has faced under the dottering administration of President Joe Biden and his frequently absentee Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg.

The train, which was operated by a local railway company, was carrying various types of cargo, including hazardous chemicals.

When the derailment occurred, several train cars overturned and spilled their contents, including chemicals such as butyl acrylate and vinyl chloride.

These chemicals pose a significant risk to human health and the environment, and as a result, local authorities were forced to act quickly to evacuate nearby residents and secure the area.

On Monday, Feb. 6, technicians carried out a “controlled release” of the toxic chemicals, resulting in a massive cloud of black smoke. A decision which is likely to be seen as particularly disastrous, for according to a letter sent to Norfolk Southern from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency the chemicals ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, ethylhexyl acrylate and isobutylene were also present in the overturned train cars.

The evacuation order was removed on Wednesday, and there have been several complaints of individuals having a burning sensation in their eyes, animals being unwell, and a strong odor remaining around the town since then.

In spite of these shocking reports local officials have continued to insist that the air is safe to breathe and the water is safe to drink in East Palestine.

However hazardous material specialist Sil Caggiano told a completely different story when a local news station reached out to him for comment on the situation, according to Caggiano the situation was far more dangerous and catastrophic than local officials had so far admitted.

“We basically nuked a town with chemicals so we could get a railroad open,” Caggiano said.

“I was surprised when they quickly told the people they can go back home, but then said if they feel like they want their homes tested they can have them tested. I would’ve far rather they did all the testing,” he added.

“There’s a lot of what ifs, and we’re going to be looking at this thing 5, 10, 15, 20 years down the line and wondering, ‘Gee, cancer clusters could pop up, you know, well water could go bad,” he continued.

In spite of this fact residents were still told it was safe to return to their homes, all while domestic animals were continuing to be found dead in the area along with thousands of fish in nearby streams and rivers.

It’s hard to know exactly what event in America’s history to compare the East Palestine railway disaster to, as such events are relatively rare in modern American history. However, perhaps the most apt comparison isn’t to the United States at all but rather to the late stage Soviet Union, a dysfunctional society that the U.S., under the incompetent administration of Joe Biden, increasing resembles.

In particular, the 1986 nuclear disaster in Chernobyl.

The Chernobyl disaster was a catastrophic nuclear accident that occurred on April 26th, 1986, in the city of Pripyat, Ukraine. The disaster remains one of the worst nuclear accidents in history, and its impact continues to be felt to this day.

The accident occurred during a routine test of reactor number four at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.

A combination of design flaws, operator error, and inadequate safety protocols led to a catastrophic explosion that released a significant amount of radioactive material into the atmosphere.

The explosion caused immediate deaths and injuries, and the radiation release resulted in long-term health effects for those who were exposed.

The Soviet government, much like the Biden administration today, attempted to downplay the severity of the incident and initially refused to evacuate the nearby city of Pripyat.

However, as the true scale of the disaster became apparent, a massive evacuation effort was later launched.

The surrounding area has since been declared an “exclusion zone”  where human beings are not allowed to enter due to the high levels of contamination.

The environmental and social impacts of the disaster have been far-reaching and are still being felt even now. The immediate area around the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant remains uninhabitable, and the long-term effects of radiation exposure have been devastating for the local population.

The disaster has also had a significant impact on the wider region, with contaminated air and water spreading far beyond the exclusion zone.

There is a significant chance that America may be living through a similar event in East Palestine, Ohio. A region long neglected by liberal coastal elites, due to its high concentration of white working class voters in a state which voted for Donald Trump in both 2016 and 2020.

So far the mainstream media has largely ignored the story entirely, with the major legacy media outlets spending a mere 30 minutes combined covering the disaster according to a report from The Daily Wire.

And the most troubling aspect of the disaster is that, if history is any guide, the disaster in Ohio may be just be the beginning of a larger systemic crisis in America.

In the days and weeks since the derailment in East Palestine trains have faced catastrophic derailments in other parts of the country. The extent of the issue in such a short period of time likely indicates an underlying issue which is systemic and deep seated throughout the America’s transportation infrastructure.

 

[READ MORE: Conservative Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy Claims He is Considering Run for President in 2024]

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