According to a preliminary report the National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB) released on Thursday, the operators of the “train carrying hazardous chemicals near East Palestine, Ohio, tried to stop the train after a wheel bearing overheated to a dangerous degree.” By the time the train’s engineers were able to get out to inspect the bearing, there already were indications the train may have derailed.
Although the report is not completely conclusive because the investigation is ongoing, it does offer the most detailed explanation yet of what may have sent the train off the tracks.
- As the train approached East Palestine, a wheel bearing on its 23rd railcar rapidly overheated.
- Temperature soared to more than 250 degrees Fahrenheit above the ambient temperature.
- Overheating triggered an alarm, which caused the train’s engineer to immediately apply the brakes to bring the train to the stop.
- An automatic breaking system also went into effect.
- Operators exited the train and saw fire and smoke, an indicator of a possible derailment.
- 38 cars derailed.
- 11 of those cars carried toxic chemicals.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg visits the East Palestine:
A day after the disgraced, twice impeached, one term (p)resident, Donald Trump, returned to the scene of the crime and gave out ‘Trump’ water and bought McD’s for the local residents, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg traveled to the site to address the residents’ concerns.
Mission Accomplished!:
So who did?!?!
Buttigieg says Biden administration will ‘never forget the people of East Palestine’
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg pledged the Biden administration would “never forget the people of East Palestine” as he visited the site of the train derailment in Ohio that has left residents fearful of contaminated air and water. Buttigieg said his department is working to ensure such disasters don’t continue to happen.
He also told reporters that it was clear from the scene that regulatory changes were needed.
