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Environmental, Political Concerns Continue Following Ohio Train Derailment

Posted on by kayleij

On Feb. 3, a catastrophic train derailment in East Palestine, OH, led to a toxic spill of the chemical vinyl chloride. The accident resulted in a looming cloud of poisonous smoke, displaced residents, dead wildlife and pets, and international concerns about environmental protections and cleanup efforts. 

Now, nearly 20 days later, the disaster is – predictably – a political battleground, as some residents say they feel forgotten and as if they’re being used as puppets with little concern for their livelihood and wellbeing. 

Former president Donald Trump visited East Palestine on Feb. 22, yet politicians and disaster-relief experts across the country considered his visit to be more of a political stunt than any real relief expedition. East Palestine is located in a “reliably red” county in Ohio and Trump’s trip has seemed to be something of a launching point for his 2024 presidential campaign. 

Social media posters on both sides of the political spectrum are lauding or lambasting Trump for not only the visit but also reforms made during his administration that possibly made the accident, and even more recent derailments in Nebraska and Michigan within the last few weeks, more likely to occur.

The combined search terms of “East Palestine” AND “Trump” returned 354.04K mentions from Feb. 1 through today, with a predictable spike on Feb. 18, the day Trump announced he would visit the embattled town. However, poster sentiment is wildly negative, with 89.4% of these mentions being negatively coded. These unhappy users are displeased with essentially everything going on, from the disaster itself to political responses from both the Democratic and Republican camps. Combined terms of “East Palestine” AND “Biden” are even more displeased, with 97.3% of the 644.2K mentions negatively coded. 

President Joe Biden has been particularly vilified for visiting Ukraine during his own constituents’ time of need. The mayor of East Palestine, Trent Conaway, went on FOX News and called Biden’s visit to Eastern Europe a “slap in the face.”

Negative effects from Biden’s trip were also immediately obvious on the global scale, with Russian leader Vladimir Putin “upstaged” and “embarrassed” by the surprise trip into an active war zone. Putin responded by suspending Russia’s participation in START, a nuclear arms treaty with the U.S. and prompting “World War III” to start trending on Twitter. 

Altogether, the combination of these crises reflects negatively on Biden’s international and domestic politics, though the trip to Ukraine was intended to boost morale in Kyiv. One popular Tweet circulating alleges that the slow response from Biden, secretary of transportation Pete Buttigieg, and FEMA is because Columbiana County, home of East Palestine, voted against the Democratic party in 2020. 

However, there is some potentially positive news coming out of what seems to be a no-win situation. After concerns of widespread environmental effects such as poisoned waterways, air pollution, and toxic seafood were raised, the EPA has ordered Norfolk Southern, the company at fault, to clean up East Palestine and shoulder the costs for the efforts. Norfolk Southern’s previous efforts to appease residents have been rightfully ridiculed: 

Ongoing water testing in the watershed and in residents’ private water sources have provided mixed results based on who is doing the testing, yet hopefully cleanup efforts will prove fruitful. 

Author: Kayleigh Jackson

Posted in Tracking News via Social Media Analytics