Hoodat:
"The whole 'controlled burn' narrative was complete bullshit. Also, burning vinyl chloride without proper oxygenation results in the creation of dioxins."
Catfish:
"I want to know who exactly at EPA, state agency, railroad, or local government..... gave the order to torch the spill....."
If there had been no "controlled release" or "controlled burn", the wrecked cars could have possibly exploded (with great force), OR, if the fire had been extinguished, the chemicals would have pretty much leaked out into the ground and water.
Whenever there's a major derailment (even without toxic spills), the main order of business from the railroad's point of view is going to be:
- clear the wreckage off to the side
- get the track restored
- resume operations
For this purpose, they will usually call in professional "wreck cleanup outfits" (like "Hulcher") to get the cars out of the way. These guys really know their stuff, they come in with large Cat tractors and "side-mounted" cranes to lift cars and move them out of the way.
But to do this, the "toxicity" has to be dealt with first.
Catfish... don't you recall me saying a few days' back that I didn't think that NS (or any other big RR) had a team of "toxic cleanup" guys to do jobs like this? They may indeed have an office staffed with folks who know a little about the contents of hazmat cars, and about what should be done in emergencies, but my guess is that when there's a bad event like this they call "outside parties" for advice and direction. NS is a railroad company -- NOT a chemical company.
And these days, the big RR companies are running with as-slimmed-down employee structures as they can get away with (it's known as "precision scheduled railroading").
As to who gave the go-ahead for the controlled burn, wasn't that mentioned here over the past few weeks? Seems like the governor of Ohio signed off on it at the request of the railroad.
I doubt EPA or the feds had any input -- at all.
That may change in the future.
