It stinks in Ohio

George K · "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

@Axtremus said in It stinks in Ohio:
Sen. Sherrod Brown blames Trump too:

https://www.cleveland.com/news/2023/02/sen-sherrod-brown-blasts-trump-administration-for-rail-safety-cuts-after-ohio-derailment.html

@Mik even if that deregulation played a part, the simple fact remains that Biden has a pen and a phone, too and it’s now Year 3. You can’t blame the previous administration policies this late in the term. They are now your policies as well.

As I said earlier, my understanding is that this derailment was caused by a "hot box" causing the wheel/axle of the car to fail. I don't know if changing the regulation for electronically-controlled pneumatic brakes made the derailment worse, but, from all appearances brake failure was not the proximate cause.

As to why the regulation was withdrawn, DOT said that a study showed that the regulation was not cost-effective:

The original rule was published in May 2015, but later that year, in response to complaints from railroads, Congress enacted section 7311 of the FAST Act which ordered GAO and Transportation Research Board reviews of the rule, and once those reviews were finished, ordered the Secretary of Transportation to take an “evidence-based approach” to a reevaluation of the rule.

In October 2016, GAO found fault with DOT’s original calculation of the benefits of the rule, and TRB reported two months ago that it was “unable to make a conclusive statement concerning the emergency performance of ECP brakes relative to other braking systems.”

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) then performed a revised cost-benefit analysis, which found that the benefits of the rule could be quantified between $12 and $19 million per year while the costs of the rule would be between $35 and $46 million per year.

So, if I read this correctly, the rule was established with only a suggestion that it was good. A subsequent study, under the Obama administration found that the rule was not cost-effective, or at least couldn't make a conclusive statement about it.

But, no biggie, SecTrans Pete informed us, today, that there are 1000 derailments per year. So, there's that.

And @LuFins-Dad , I'm not sure that this material could have been transported by pipeline.

Jolly

Buttigieg is as useless as tits on Rachel Levine

George K · "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

NTSB Chairman comments on ~~Mayor~~ SecTrans Pete's remarks:

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1626379359375265792.html

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

First, a message to the community…then a plea to those spreading misinformation.

To everyone affected: know that @NTSB is working vigorously to understand what caused this train derailment — so it never happens again.

You have my personal commitment that the NTSB will CONTINUE to share all information publicly as soon as possible following our analysis. Here's a link to our Feb. 14 update:

Next: NTSB investigators will thoroughly examine the tank cars once decontaminated. As always, we’ll issue urgent safety recommendations as needed.

Urgent safety recommendations may be issued at any time; meaning, we don't wait until the end of our investigation if immediate safety action is warranted.

Nothing…nothing is more important than accuracy at a moment like this, which is why the NTSB is deliberate in our approach to investigations. Credibility is ESSENTIAL to our lifesaving mission. The NTSB process WORKS. See how here:

That leads me to my last point: anyone speculating about what happened, didn’t happen, or should've happened is misleading a suffering community – PLEASE STOP SPREADING MISINFORMATION. For example…

Some are saying the ECP (electronically controlled pneumatic) brake rule, if implemented, would’ve prevented this derailment. FALSE – here’s why…

The ECP braking rule would’ve applied ONLY to HIGH HAZARD FLAMMABLE TRAINS. The train that derailed in East Palestine was a MIXED FREIGHT TRAIN containing only 3 placarded Class 3 flammable liquids cars.

This means even if the rule had gone into effect, this train wouldn't have had ECP brakes.

For a reminder of the history on ECP, see this graphic from @USGAO. The Dec 2015 FAST Act directive (below) resulted in PHMSA withdrawing the ECP brake rule on September 24, 2018.

I urge you: let the NTSB lead the #safety analysis. Anything else is harmful — and adding pain to a community that’s been through enough.

But…if this derailment has moved you to want to become a safety investigator, we’d love to have you at the NTSB.

LuFins Dad

@George-K said in It stinks in Ohio:

NTSB Chairman comments on ~~Mayor~~ SecTrans Pete's remarks:

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1626379359375265792.html

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

First, a message to the community…then a plea to those spreading misinformation.

To everyone affected: know that @NTSB is working vigorously to understand what caused this train derailment — so it never happens again.

You have my personal commitment that the NTSB will CONTINUE to share all information publicly as soon as possible following our analysis. Here's a link to our Feb. 14 update:

Next: NTSB investigators will thoroughly examine the tank cars once decontaminated. As always, we’ll issue urgent safety recommendations as needed.

Urgent safety recommendations may be issued at any time; meaning, we don't wait until the end of our investigation if immediate safety action is warranted.

Nothing…nothing is more important than accuracy at a moment like this, which is why the NTSB is deliberate in our approach to investigations. Credibility is ESSENTIAL to our lifesaving mission. The NTSB process WORKS. See how here:

That leads me to my last point: anyone speculating about what happened, didn’t happen, or should've happened is misleading a suffering community – PLEASE STOP SPREADING MISINFORMATION. For example…

Some are saying the ECP (electronically controlled pneumatic) brake rule, if implemented, would’ve prevented this derailment. FALSE – here’s why…

The ECP braking rule would’ve applied ONLY to HIGH HAZARD FLAMMABLE TRAINS. The train that derailed in East Palestine was a MIXED FREIGHT TRAIN containing only 3 placarded Class 3 flammable liquids cars.

This means even if the rule had gone into effect, this train wouldn't have had ECP brakes.

For a reminder of the history on ECP, see this graphic from @USGAO. The Dec 2015 FAST Act directive (below) resulted in PHMSA withdrawing the ECP brake rule on September 24, 2018.

I urge you: let the NTSB lead the #safety analysis. Anything else is harmful — and adding pain to a community that’s been through enough.

But…if this derailment has moved you to want to become a safety investigator, we’d love to have you at the NTSB.

Wow! Doesn’t he report to SecTrans Pete?

LuFins Dad

It actually looks like the NTSB has had a series of problems with Mayor Pete.

https://www.ksat.com/news/politics/2022/01/18/ntsb-chief-to-fed-agency-stop-using-misleading-statistics/

https://transportation.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=405946

George K · "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

Well, she was appointed to NTSB by Trump, so perhaps there's some blame to be laid at his feet after all.

Just sayin.

George K · "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

Ignore the fact that the "Trump War Room" posted this, and listen to what the NTSB chair says about the crash - same thing I said. This was NOT a brake issue.