We got lucky

Long-time Weinland Park residents like me have a keen sense of the importance of rail safety, July 10, 2012 a train derailment occurred near our neighborhood in the middle of the night. (“What went wrong?” July 12, 2012)

The sound of the impact woke up the neighborhood. There were mandatory evacuations for people living within a few blocks of the tracks. The night of the crash it was not known if the train had dangerous chemicals like vinyl chloride and styrene that would cause the kind of damage and environmental contamination that we are seeing now in East Palestine. There was styrene on board; fortunately, those cars were not the ones that caught fire.

It is surprising and frustrating that articles like “Central Ohio communities mull lower train speed limits after East Palestine derailment” (March 1, Dispatch.com) start with statements like “The likelihood of a train derailing is slim…” and fail to mention Columbus had its own major train accident a little more than a decade ago.

The question is not could an accident like East Palestine happen here in Columbus? A train accident did happen here and we just got lucky.

As the saying goes, “Those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it.”

Let’s not forget how close we came to disaster in July 2012. Let’s seriously discuss rail safety and the transport of hazardous materials. While we’re at it, let’s also talk about how much and how frequently do we really need hazardous material like vinyl chloride and styrene to be transported through our communities. What can be done, for example, to reduce consumption or minimize the distance from where those chemicals are created to where they need to go?

In the coverage thus far of the East Palestine derailment, I have not seen these important issues addressed.

Professor Chris Orban, Ohio State University