Train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio no longer hazardous to locals

Sara Khorshidi Director of Print

Around 9 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 3, a train from Norfolk Southern Railway (NSR) traveling from Illinois to Pennsylvania derailed and burst into flames in East Palestine, Ohio. This small village on the Pennsylvania-Ohio border is just 90 minutes southeast of the Case Western Reserve University campus. About 50 of the train’s cars derailed; of these cars, around 10 to 20 contained hazardous materials, and five of these cars contained vinyl chloride, an artificially made, and colorless, flammable gas, typically used in the manufacturing of polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Vinyl chloride becomes extremely reactive when in contact with air, sunlight, heat or moisture, and is associated with the increased risk of various forms of liver, brain and lung cancers, as well as leukemia and lymphoma. If inhaled, it has also been known to cause drowsiness, gastrointestinal bleeding, low blood oxygen levels, seizures, deterioration to the central nervous system and death. Additional- ly, vinyl chloride can enter household air if the water supply is contaminated, as it evaporates easily when exposed to air.

Because of the proximity of the fire, officials became extremely concerned that the train cars containing the vinyl chloride would ignite and explode, sending deadly shrapnel as far as a mile away from the crash site. “This catastrophic failure, if it occurs, will produce hydrogen chloride and phosgene gas into the atmosphere,” elaborated East Palestine Fire Chief Keith Drabick.

The town immediately issued an emergency evacuation of residents within one mile of the fire, which expanded to a two-square mile evacuation order from Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, as well as Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. The fire continued to burn for four days afterwards, until it finally reduced on Monday afternoon. At this point, the vinyl chloride was released via “small, shaped charges,” which was used to “blow a small hole into each rail car,” releasing the pressureliquified vinyl chloride into a trench, then immediately igniting it before it could polymerize.

The National and Ohio Environmental Protection Agencies, as well as the 52nd Civil Support Team of the Ohio National Guard, all participated in taking air and water samples and determining if levels of vinyl chloride and its combustion byproducts were low enough to be considered safe.

On Wednesday, Feb. 8, Gov. DeWine, Fire Chief Drabick, among other leaders of groups in charge of assessing the accident, announced that the fire was completely extinguished and that residents are now safe to be back within previously evacuated limits. Crews have also been removing some of the wreckage, and no injuries were reported. However, some residents reported smelling chlorine and having headaches.

Before the accident had occurred,

A Valentine’s Day treat: Sex Fest

Zachary Treseler Staff Writer

Case Western Reserve University constantly features a smorgasbord of great events that take place on the weekends. This Valentine’s Day weekend is no exception with the much anticipated Sex Fest happening this Friday, Feb. 10.

V, a student coordinator at CWRU’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) Center and the organizer for Sex Fest, describes the event quite simply as, “a sex education event featuring a burlesque performance by Bella Sin.”

Doors for Sex Fest will open at 7 p.m. on Feb. 10 and a question and answer period with Sin will start half an hour later. “I hope that with the sex education Q&A, tabling organizations and educational materials combined, I can have a positive impact on the sexual well-being of the campus community,” V mentions.

The Q&A section and sex education component of Sex Fest are components that V takes immense pride in because V is “studying public health and [thinks] that sex education is an extremely important aspect of that, though it is often inaccessible.” V believes that these conversations are necessary because “There are so many people who received abstinence-only sex education, and even more whose sex education wasn’t inclusive of queer people, trans, intersex, and disabled bodies, and safe kink, which are all very important to both sexual enjoyment and health for many people.”

Beyond engaging in relevant conversations about sex, all attendees who participate in the Q&A session will be entered into a raffle for a free sex toy. When asked about the importance of this prize, V states, “This is also, in my opinion, an important aspect to increasing sexual health and well-being on campus, because we are supplying people with body-safe sex toys, rather than the cheap and potentially harmful toys which are often the most accessible.”

Following the Q&A, around 8:30 p.m., comes the performance by Sin, who is well known in Cleveland’s burlesque scene. V once saw “them perform at the Kent Stage and thought that their performance was absolutely the National Transportation Safety Board was alerted of “preliminary indications of mechanical issues on one of the axles” of a train car. Despite this, the emergency brake was activated when the alarm was sounded at the time of the crash. amazing, so I knew I had to try to book them for the event.” During the event, “[Sin] is also going to be giving a short presentation on burlesque history, with emphasis on a decolonized and queer perspective, which compliments the educational theme of the event very well.”

Because of this, local business owners and residents in East Palestine are filing a class action lawsuit against Norfolk Southern Railway, with the group seeking up to $5 million in damages for those forced to evacuate due to the emergency. The suit alleges that the derailment, chemical exposure and subsequent immediate evacuation was “caused by the negligence” of Norfolk Southern Railway, specifically, “in the operation of the subject train, defects in NSR’s track system, and/or defects in one or more of the cars.” The suit asks NSR to release all studies and reports pertaining to the derailment and vinyl chloride to be released to the public. NSR has not yet responded to the suit.

And of course, there will be plenty of dancing and free food during Sex Fest.

The event is from 7-11 p.m. this Friday, Feb. 10 in Tinkham Veale University Center Ballroom. Students can register for the event on the LGBT Center’s CampusGroups page, but the LGBT Center will also be accepting walk-ins who can register at the checkin table.

ZUCKER continued from pg. 1

After the opener, I was expecting the energy to subside, but on the contrary, the audience was energized, buzzing with excitement for Jeremy Zucker’s upcoming performance.

Zucker has been an undeniable success over the past few years. In May 2018, Zucker graduated from college with a degree in molecular biology. He first gained worldwide attention with his viral song, “comethru,” which describes his feelings of loneliness and boredom after moving back to his hometown upon graduating. Now, he has over 12 million monthly listeners on Spotify and an abundance of devoted fans.

Because of his relatively recent college graduation and his STEM education, Zucker seemed to understand his CWRU audience very well. During one of his song breaks, he even commented on walking through

Tinkham Veale University Center and observing the many people studying and watching lecture videos on a Saturday night, something CWRU students are all too familiar with. He easily matched the energy of the crowd, and as an introvert himself— an INFP, according to his Instagram stories—he carried the charisma and approachability that perfectly complemented CWRU students’ vibes.

Going into his concert, I only knew a few of his songs, mainly his most famous ones. The first time I ever heard Zucker’s music was in 2019, when my mom showed me his music video for “comethru.” This was such a rare experience for me, as my mom almost never actively listens to any Western music and usually only enjoys songs that my brother and I pick out for her. So when Zucker played the opening notes for “comethru” live, I was surprised to notice tears pricking my eyes, reminding me of home and the excitement my mom felt that day showing me that song, all that time ago. I could only imagine how connected his fans felt in that moment, especially the ones who had been listening to him for years, knew his songs by heart and had formed special memories with them.

Zucker’s music leans on the more mellow and emotional side, with songs about breakups, growing up and feeling alone, so the rest of the concert was filled with soft, touching songs like “you were good to me” and my favorite comfort song, “always, i’ll care.” The crowd loved him more with every song, especially after he stopped to take a BeReal for a fan. Everything he did, from describing books he was currently reading to playing an unreleased song for