Imani Tafari-Ama | Corrupt politics fuel environmental disasters

While US President Joe Biden was touring Ukraine in a surprise visit to show support for the war effort, his rival, President Donald Trump, was addressing the home-based tragedy of the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, and its impact on that village and neighbouring communities.

History will not absolve those who wilfully or inadvertently do damage to human lives and jeopardise the integrity of the environment. Both presidents must answer the questions: Beyond politics, how can you leverage the power that you have to improve the lives of the people that you are addressing? What will you do to produce peace on the one hand and environmental justice on the other? How will you ensure that the interests of big capital do not trump citizen security?

The absence of a peace counter-narrative to the elongated war in Ukraine and the relative silence surrounding the train derailment in Ohio are perfect examples of the kind of understated catastrophe that Rob Nixon calls “Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor”. As Nixon explains: “By slow violence I mean a violence that occurs gradually and out of sight, a violence of delayed destruction that is dispersed across time and space, an attritional violence that is typically not viewed as violence at all.”

On February 3, at 8:55 p.m., a 150-car, two-mile-long train, operated by Norfolk Southern, crashed in East Palestine on the border of Ohio and Pennsylvania. Just before the train derailed, some of the cars were sparking due to an axle defect that ignited some of the coaches. Following the crash, those managing the disaster catalysed a controlled burn of the toxic cancer-causing chemicals that were stored on the train. This prevented the spontaneous combustion of the chemicals. However, the burn resulted in the release of dangerous substances in the atmosphere in a mushroom cloud. Residents living in a five-mile radius of the crash site were evacuated. When they returned, officials assured them that it was safe to breathe the air and drink public water.

According to Democracy Now, a programme hosted by Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzales, 10,000 tons of oil escaped into the earth from this disaster. In addition, vinyl chloride and other cancer-causing chemicals were released into the atmosphere because of the toxic burn, which, officials said, was intended to reduce the contamination risk.

AFTERMATH

In the aftermath of the train crash, some residents in the affected zone complained of respiratory problems, diarrhoea, headaches, and extreme anxiety, catalysed by the disaster. Animals like deer got swollen, chickens died in droves, and a massive fish kill, numbering thirty-five thousand was observed in seven and a half miles of streams. Meanwhile, official statements about environmental safety after the event contradicted reports from eyewitnesses on the ground.

Vinyl chloride is used to make polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes, which are popularly used in plumbing works. However, when the source chemical is inhaled, it is known to cause liver, brain, and lung cancer, lymphoma, and leukaemia.

The popular use of plumbing materials and other PVC-sourced necessities makes the freighting of vinyl chloride big business for wealthy companies. However, the mushroom-cloud burn increased the risk of acid rain. When the released toxins mix with clouds, the resulting rain is very harmful for the Earth. Already, the wind-borne toxins have affected four states, including Virginia, where the East Virginia river has, reportedly, been contaminated. This waterway flows into the Mississippi River, with huge environmental disaster implications for multiple millions. The present catastrophe is a trigger for painful memories of the lead poisoning of the Flint River in Michigan, with public official culpability too.

As Amy Goodman suggested, there is an eerie similarity between the plot that evolves in the 2022 Netflix movie called White Noise and the bomb train disaster. Most surreal is the fact that members of the East Palestine community were extras, which was filmed in the area. The plot thickens because White Noise depicts the story of a community that is impacted by the release of toxic chemicals into the atmosphere following a freight train disaster.

Since artistes reflect reality and produce it too, could it be that the cinematography simulation was a predictor of the present disaster? Or was it commentary on the kind of slow violence that is commonplace because of the multibillion-dollar freight train industry? Norfolk Southern is worth $55 billion and around 1,000 freight train disasters happen every year in the US. So truth is, indeed, stranger than fiction.

Emily Wright, a Democracy Now guest and an environmental justice activist, revealed that several of her family members are suffering from cancers and other diseases caused by the hazards to which some 25 million citizens are exposed simply because they live on the routes of freight trains ferrying toxic substances. As Ms Wright also explained, the disaster was forecast over a decade ago by concerned citizens who recognised the danger posed by the super-profit-making violators of environmental protection and safety standards.

The freight train in question has been in operation since the Civil War days, which means the late nineteenth century. The braking system is very crude. This one hundred and fifty car outfit uses a braking system that stops the cars individually. The obvious risk of them bumping into each other under crash conditions has long been anticipated. Pundits are all in I-told-you-so mode, berating the authorities for not being more proactive about protecting the health and safety of the residents at risk.

The bottomline is just that: big money companies like Norfolk Southern can gag and muscle politicians who yield to lobbyists (who include former government officials) and subvert and suppress safety regulations. As Prem Thakker trumpeted, both Republicans and Democrats have accepted nearly $800 million in hush-money since 1998 to look the other way as the rail industry rides roughshod over ethical and safety benchmarks.

There is a political economy of environmental injustice, and the most difficult task to tackle is corruption, in all its manifestations.

Imani Tafari-Ama, PhD, is a Pan-African advocate and gender and development specialist. Send feedback to i.tafariama@gmail.com