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.
My dad was working for a company that moved liquid molten steel by train every day.
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If only we didn’t have such an outdated and monopolized rail in this country.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.
i know people have done the math… money talks… but that seems so inefficient!
Just imagine you have a tight spot on the map full of industry. You need to expand, but there simply is no space around the existing site. But you cannot move the original site, as it is vital to be next to the harbour. So you have to open a second site somewhere else and get the logistics right.
So just like wheat and flour moves from the farmer to the mill and on to the baker, they moved liquid steel from the blast furnaces to the foundry and rolling mill.
Why is molten steel transported? That sounds bonkers. I’ve never heard of it.
Is it like a cement truck situation?
The original plant with the blast furnaces is directly at the harbor. As this site is surrounded on all sides with other industrial zones and the cities themselves, they built new foundries and rolling mills on a second site. They get (or got, IDK) the liquid steel delivered in rail cars designed for this one purpose. Obviously they are heavily insulated, so they are “just warm” on the outside.
I have to admit that my knowledge of this is old, I don’t even know if the blast furnaces are still running there…