I made a short video documenting the air dispersal models and individual reports from people in Ontario, and collected links to all the sourced included in the video, which together provide very strong indication of the spread of the Ohio chemical disaster into Canada. The video packs a lot of visual information tightly together.
The video is 2 minutes and 20 seconds, and is available on
- Youtube (silent),
- Twitter, and
- Archive.org (downloadable for re-posting).
This post has the collection of all the sources used in the video, listed below.
I think some main concerns or questions with the Ohio chemicals train crash and subsequent mass burn-off of vinyl chloride, include the following:
- Delays in people learning there’d been a disaster;
- Dismissal / minimization of dangers, both to the people in East Palestine Ohio and in wider areas;
- Very incomplete information about what the dangers are, and what to do about them.
This video can’t address all of that, but hopefully it helps.
Video (version with music):
LINKS TO SOURCES — Roughly corresponding to chronological order in video
Air dispersal models:
- February 6-10, user created with NOAA HYSPLIT tool by @SeancePolitique;
*CORRECTION: I actually used this one (Feb 3-7 from apathyEndsNow) in the video, so it is mislabeled in the video, -BUT- they have the same modelling for the period they overlap, which is Feb 6-7, i.e. during and after the big chemical burnoff; - February 6-7, created by @BreatheProject;
- February 8 (static), created by NOAA. Plus, archived version of since-removed NOAA webpost.
*coming soon… further details about the NOAA removing their official models after posting them on their website.
Videos:
- Overhead drone footage post-crash, pre-burnoff from NTSB ‘B-roll’ media video;
- Local residents’ footage of February 6 vinyl chloride intentional fire, part of Unicorn Riot video.
*Also see the full coverage from UR on the disaster; it is comprehensive and good place to start.
Reports from individuals:
- BarleyTheBard smells chemical out 10-20km on Lake Erie (reddit);
- Photos of cars with rain residue: in Canton OH (@Fwntes) and in S. Ontario (@aeternumferox);
- Lake Huron shores: @SmartandSassy11 symptoms for household + snow + snow samples,
Plus @CuzzinSnooter reply: “that is 100% soot and other not fully combusted chemical particulates“; - Niagara region: all three of @1stPig2Fly’s cats had nosebleeds, bad symptoms for 4-5 days.
There are also a number of reports from people in Ontario and Quebec of ‘rainbow sheens’, of snow melting differently than regular, and of birds not where they would regularly be… but those reports didn’t make it into this video or collection of source links. But you can read some discussion here on reddit
Canadian news reports that dismiss risk:
These reports say the wind patterns wouldn’t bring the problem to Canada, but the air dispersal models directly contradict that.
- Ohio derailed train chemical cloud ‘highly unlikely’ to impact Canada (Global News)
- Toxic train derailment in Ohio ‘highly unlikely’ to impact Ontario, federal officials say (CBC)
Documenting the fallout:
- Ohio Sierra Club call for people in OH, PA, NY, and ON to send reports and documentation of how wide the fallout is – this information is being gathered in part for the upcoming US government commission on the disaster.
- Update 2023-02-21, not in the video:
Comprehensive Ohio train disaster citizen-science environmental testing info and links managed by Devon Ship, M.Sc. as profiled in article by Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Coordinated online misinfo:
Commentary from @RVAwonk (Caroline Orr Bueno)
- “The discourse around the train derailment & subsequent chemical release in East Palestine, OH, is incredibly bizarre…”
- “coordinated right-wing campaign surrounding claims of poisonous chemicals in the Mississippi River following the train derailment“
music in the video
“This Is Not” by Anima Mundi –and– “Know Your Enemy” by Rage Against The Machine
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