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Your Call

The Norfolk Southern train derailment & the plastic pollution crisis

A burning train forced evacuations in the East Palestine, Ohio, area on Feb. 3, 2023.
Cleveland 19 News
A burning train forced evacuations in the East Palestine, Ohio, area on Feb. 3, 2023.

On this edition of Your Call, we get the latest on the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.

Shortly after the disaster, local officials decided to drain nearly 116,000 gallons of vinyl chloride into a ditch and set it on fire in a "controlled burn," in order to avoid an explosion. Two days after the burn, residents were allowed back into their homes, before any testing for carcinogenic dioxins and other poisonous chemicals had been done.

In a recent New York Times opinion piece, former EPA official Judith Enck asks: Why has the EPA allowed the horrific situation in Ohio to continue?

Guest:

Judith Enck, senior fellow and visiting faculty member in the Center for the Advancement of Public Action at Bennington College, president of Beyond Plastics, and former EPA Regional Administrator with the Obama administration

Web Resources:

NBC: Norfolk Southern train derails in Alabama hours before CEO testifies before Congress

HuffPost: Ohio's Toxic Train Disaster Follows ‘Perfect Storm’ Of Cuts, Deregulation

The Nation: The Ohio Derailment Catastrophe Is a Case Study in Disaster Capitalism

The New York Times: Over 1,000 Trains Derail Every Year in America. Let’s Bring That Number Down.

Wired: The Ohio Derailment Lays Bare the Hellish Plastic Crisis

Independent: Norfolk Southern gave donation to Ohio governor one month before East Palestine disaster

The Lever: After Norfolk Southern Support, DeWine Says No Disaster In East Palestine

Rose Aguilar has been the host of Your Call since 2006. She became a regular media roundtable guest in 2001. In 2019, the San Francisco Press Club named Your Call the best public affairs program. In 2017, The Nation named it the most valuable local radio show.
Bee Soll is a producer with Your Call at KALW, and a producer, writer, and editor at KCBS Radio in San Francisco. She is a former reporter for Crosscurrents and contributor at KPFA Radio.