The American Chemistry Council (ACC) has issued a statement regarding the Feb. 3 derailment of a Norfolk Southern train in East Palestine, Ohio. Since the incident, which resulted in a toxic chemicals release, the EPA, government officials and even environmental activist Erin Brockovich have weighed in on the impact of this infrastructure failure.
“People are understandably concerned and question why we ship chemicals, including those that are classified as hazardous materials,” said Chris Jahn, president and CEO of the ACC, in the statement. “We ship them because they are needed across the country and essential to everyday life. Chemicals are critical to providing safe drinking water, ensuring a plentiful food supply, producing life-saving medicines and medical equipment, and generating many types of energy.
“The impact of the derailment on the community of East Palestine underscores the need for a constant focus on safety. We must strive to meet the daily needs of the nation while delivering materials safely.
“The safe transportation of chemicals is a responsibility shared between chemical manufacturers, our transportation partners and the government. The transportation of chemicals requires a full range of safety measures to help prevent derailments, reduce the risk of a material release and mitigate the impacts of an accident.
“Chemical manufacturers own or lease rail cars used to ship our products, including tank cars equipped with special safety features to help prevent the release of chemicals during a derailment. Shippers have made significant investments in recent years to upgrade their fleets and will continue to do so.
“Experience has shown that advancing safety requires us to apply the lessons learned from accident investigations and rely on scientific data to determine what safety measures will deliver the greatest benefit.
“ACC and its members are committed to working with our transportation partners along with policymakers and other stakeholders to promote the safety of the products of our industry and help protect the public from future accidents.”
Part of the mission on the ACC website notes “Every year, the chemistry industry invests tens of millions of dollars to ensure that the products making modern living possible are safe for you, our communities and the environment. In addition to research initiatives, ACC programs focus on anticipating and preventing accidents, as well as educating the public about how to use our products safely.”
In 2020 Chemical Processing’s Process Safety With Trish & Traci podcast discussed the dangers associated with transporting hazardous chemicals via rail. “It could create public unrest, where people just really start to protest about the idea of trains being used to carry these dangerous goods,” says Trish Kerin, director of the IChemE Safety Centre. “…typically, if you are in a small town or village, the train line runs right through the middle of your town.”
In the most recent podcast, Kerin questioned the choice to burn vinyl chloride. “When you burn vinyl chloride, it basically forms hydrogen chloride and when hydrogen chloride hits the moisture in the atmosphere, it forms hydrochloric acid, potentially creating acid rain,” she explains. “There must have certainly been a lot of concerns of needing to do something very significant to prevent the explosion of those tankers, if the path they've taken is to create acid rain over the surrounding areas.”