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On February 3, a 150-car train carrying toxic chemicals derailed near East Palestine, Ohio. Close to half the town’s 4,700 residents had to evacuate as deadly gas and smoke fouled the air and chemicals contaminated waterways. Fortunately, no people were killed (although at least 3,500 fish perished), unlike in the devastating 2013 runaway train explosion that levelled the town
Often, ignoring safety is cost-effective from the cold standpoint of corporate executives. Corporations put profit ahead of lives.
In 2017, Trump rescinded an Obama-era rule aimed at making trains carrying hazardous materials safer.
A former top official at the Federal Railroad Administration said electronic brakes could have minimized or prevented the damage from the East Palestine derailment.
Xinhua Commentary: Frequent train derailments unmask U.S. systematic governance failure-