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Cersad t1_j92w4xa wrote

Reply to comment by Icy-Neck-2422 in Let's make this guy famous. by pra_com001

Which could have just as easily been done if they had actually used appropriate safety measures and were not trying to cut costs by shipping vinyl chloride without hazardous materials documentation.

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Pyroechidna1 t1_j94tlq1 wrote

What documentation was missing?

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Cersad t1_j978jbc wrote

All of it.

The shipment was not shipped under any sort of hazardous cargo protocol, as I understand it.

Industrial disasters are invariably a result of human choice. We know enough about natural conditions to plan around them.

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Pyroechidna1 t1_j979o70 wrote

You’re going to have to be more specific. Hazardous materials are mixed into general manifest trains every day. Information about the materials is included with the train orders. If there is a special “hazardous cargo protocol” that should have applied here, then tell us what that is.

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Cersad t1_j97b6om wrote

Your second sentence describes the exact problem. In a lab, every damned chemical you use is documented. Apparently none of that was available from this train: First responders reportedly didn't know what substance was on the train, and that was coupled with the wheels and brakes overheating causing a clear risk of ignition.

The entire shit sandwich seems to have come about from negligence, both of maintenance of the rail cars and from how they loaded these substances slapdash in the train.

I'd argue this clearly shows a need for tighter regulatory requirements on the trains, but I'm also interested to see the reports from the final investigation when the facts become more verifiable.

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Pyroechidna1 t1_j97mwye wrote

Hot boxes (the term of art for failed wheel bearings) have been a hazard on the railroad since forever, which is why there are hot box detectors spaced in intervals along the line.

There was nothing “slapdash” about how these materials were included in the makeup of the train, it was a manifest train like any other that runs around the country every day. Watch your local manifests and see which UN placards you can spot. Hazardous tank cars have a placard, a stencil, and an emergency phone number on them.

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Cersad t1_j97vniu wrote

You argue it's not slapdash and happens every day, but we wouldn't be discussing it if it weren't a problem.

I think you're dodging the point: current rail standards and practices are evidently insufficient to ensure the safety of the surrounding people and environment.

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