Misc

Explainer: What to Know About the Ohio Train Derailment

Published

10 months ago

February 17, 2023

Avery Koop

Article/Editing:

Nick Routley

Graphics/Design:

Mark Belan

This infographic explains the Ohio train derailment and potential impacts of the chemicals involved

Explainer: What to Know About the Ohio Train Derailment

What started out as a seemingly commonplace train derailment near the border of Ohio and Pennsylvania in early February escalated into a serious threat to more than 4,000 people in the immediate area. Millions of people living in the vicinity of the derailment are also watching this situation closely as chemicals have made their way into the air and waterways.

Vinyl chloride, which was being transported on a number of the 150 train cars owned by Norfolk Southern, is a key cause for concern in the aftermath of the derailment. The chemical is a known carcinogen, and is dangerous when released into the environment.

In this piece, we’re providing a timeline, an explainer on the chemicals being carried by the train, the impact zone of the derailment and release of said chemicals, and the other basics you need to know.

What Was the Train Carrying?

The company that owns the train, Norfolk Southern, released a document detailing the train cars and what each carried, as well as whether or not it was damaged and/or derailed. Here are the highlights:

Car Type	Load/MTY	Commodity	Haz Class	Status of Car
Hopper	Loaded	Polypropylene		Not in derailment pile
Hopper	Loaded	Polypropylene		Not in derailment pile
Hopper	Loaded	Polyethylene		lading destroyed by fire
Hopper	Loaded	Polyethylene		lading destroyed by fire
Tank Car	Empty	Residue lube oil		scrap pending C&P
Tank Car	Loaded	Vinyl chloride, stabilized	2.1 (FLAM. GAS)	car did not leak/cars vent product through the PRD and ignited/vent and burn performed
Tank Car	Loaded	Vinyl chloride, stabilized	2.1 (FLAM. GAS)	car did not leak/cars vent product through the PRD and ignited/vent and burn performed
Tank Car	Loaded	Vinyl chloride, stabilized	2.1 (FLAM. GAS)	car did not leak/cars vent product through the PRD and ignited/vent and burn performed
Tank Car	Loaded	Vinyl chloride, stabilized	2.1 (FLAM. GAS)	vent product through the PRD and ignited/vent and burn
Tank Car	Loaded	Dipropylene glycol		fire impingement/no signs of tank breach
Tank Car	Loaded	Propylene glycol		flame impingement, no tank breach found
Tank Car	Loaded	Propylene glycol		tank breached/lost most of load
Tank Car	Loaded	Diethylene glycol		had small leak from BOV, unknown amount of product in car
Tank Car	Loaded	nos (ethylene glycol mono butyl ether)	COMB. LIQUID	unknown status
Hopper	Loaded	Semolina		in pile, destroyed by fire
Tank Car	Loaded	nos (Ethylhexyl acrylate)	COMB. LIQUID	Car breached on head end/amount of product still in car pending
Hopper	Loaded	Polyvinyl		burned
Hopper	Loaded	Polyvinyl		actively burning
Tank Car	Loaded	Petroleum lube oil		double comp car/both breached/entire load lost
Tank Car	Loaded	Petroleum lube oil		tank breached/lost most of load
Tank Car	Loaded	Petroleum lube oil		flame impinged, may have had a small leak/will be determined when car is off loaded
Tank Car	Loaded	Petroleum lube oil		flame impinged, small leak from top fittings, unknown amount left in tank
Tank Car	Loaded	Polypropyl glycol		flame impinged, tank breached/ most of load lost
Tank Car	Loaded	Propylene glycol		flame impinged, no signs of breach
Tank Car	Loaded	Diethylene glycol		flame impinged, tank breached/ load lost
Tank Car	Loaded	Diethylene glycol		flame impinged, lost unknown amount at this time from damaged BOV
Tank Car	Loaded	Isobutylene	2.1 (FLAM. GAS)	some flame impingement/no signs of breach
Tank Car	Loaded	Butyl acrylates, stabilized	3 (FLAM. LIQUID)	Head breach/lost entire load (spill& fire)
Tank Car	Loaded	Petro oil, nec		flame impinged, small leak from VRV stopped, car still loaded
Tank Car	Loaded	Additives, fuel		flame impinged, no sign of breach
Hopper	Loaded	Polyvinyl		involved in fire
Hopper	Loaded	Polyvinyl		involved in fire
Tank Car	Loaded	Vinyl chloride, stabilized	2.1 (FLAM. GAS)	car did not leak/cars vent product through the PRD and ignited/vent and burn performed
Box Car	Loaded	Balls, CTN, MEDCL		burning or has burned
Box Car	Loaded	Sheet steel		burning or has burned
Box Car	Loaded	Frozen vegetable		burning or has burned
Tank Car	Empty	Benzene	3 (FLAM. LIQUID)	damaged, fire impinged/ no breach
Tank Car	Empty	Benzene	3 (FLAM. LIQUID)	damaged, fire impinged/ no breach
Tank Car	Loaded	Paraffin wax		flame impingement/no signs of breach
Hopper	Loaded	Powder flakes		burned, extinguished
Hopper	Loaded	Powder flakes		in line, upright, impinged
Hopper	Loaded	Hydraulic cement
Autorack	Loaded	Autos passender
Box car	Loaded	Malt liquors
Box car	Loaded	Malt liquors
Box car	Loaded	Malt liquors
Box car	Loaded	Malt liquors
Box car	Loaded	Malt liquors
Box car	Loaded	Malt liquors
Box car	Loaded	Malt liquors
Box car	Loaded	Malt liquors
Box car	Loaded	Malt liquors

Aside from dangerous chemicals, the train was carrying things like sheet steel, semolina, cement, malt liquor, and paraffin wax.

The Threat of the Chemical Substances

Vinyl chloride: a gas which is commonly used to make PVC plastics. It is extremely flammable and produces toxic fumes when burned. It is also carcinogenic and can cause a myriad of health issues.
Butyl acrylate: a liquid used for making sealants, adhesives, and paints. It can cause skin, respiratory, and eye irritation.
Benzene residue: benzene is a highly flammable liquid. It is used to make things like rubbers, plastics, and dyes. It evaporates extremely quickly into the air and if exposed at high levels, it can cause dizziness, unconsciousness, tremors, irregular heartbeat, among other symptoms.
Ethylhexyl acrylate: a liquid used to produce plastics and paint. It can cause respiratory and skin irritation. It can also produce a hazardous vapor under appropriate heat.
Ethylene glycol monobutyl: a liquid that is primarily used as a solvent for inks and paints, as well as dry cleaning solutions. It is acutely toxic and can inflict serious or permanent injury. Vapors from the liquid can irritate the nose and eyes, and, if ingested, can cause vomiting and headaches.
Combustible liquids

According to the CDC, many of these substances are frequently transported across the U.S.; benzene, for example, ranks in the top 20 chemicals by production volume in the country.

The Timeline

Friday, February 3rd: The train, which was heading from Madison, Illinois to Conway, Pennsylvania, was carrying various products from frozen vegetables to industrial chemicals. Near East Palestine, Ohio, just before the Pennsylvania border, 38 of the train’s 150 train cars derailed and subsequent fires caused damages to another 12. Additionally, 11 of the derailed train cars carried hazardous material, the most dangerous being vinyl chloride.

The derailment caused a large fire and ominous plumes of smoke over East Palestine, but there were no fatalities or injuries. According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the cause of the derailment is still under investigation.

Saturday, February 4th: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) crews began running air pollution and water runoff tests. They detected contaminated water in two streams, Sulphur Run and Leslie Run.

Sunday, February 5th: The EPA and Norfolk Southern’s contractors continued testing, and recovery efforts were underway at the contaminated water sites.

Monday, February 6th: Responders conducted a controlled burn of toxic materials to destroy the remaining vinyl chloride, which posed a threat of explosion and subsequent toxic fumes and shrapnel. Because of this the standing evacuation order was extended to include a larger area. From the Ohio governor’s announcement:

“The controlled release process involves the burning of the rail cars’ chemicals, which will release fumes into the air that can be deadly if inhaled. Based on current weather patterns and the expected flow of the smoke and fumes, anyone who remains in the red affected area is facing grave danger of death.” – Mike DeWine

Wednesday, February 8th: Just days later, the governor announced that it was safe for residents to return home as air quality tests were coming back clean.

In the last week: Reports have been coming in of people feeling symptoms related to the release of toxic chemicals. Additionally, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, reported that 3,500 fish were found dead in Ohio waterways as a direct result of the spill from the train derailment.

The EPA, however, has screened the air quality inside more than 400 homes, finding levels to be safe. A statement from the regional director of the EPA said that: “Since the fire went out on February 8, EPA air monitoring has not detected any levels of health concern in the community that are attributed to the train derailment.”

On Wednesday, the 15th, Norfolk Southern representatives pulled out of a meeting with town officials, causing outrage among residents. The following day, EPA administrator, Michael Regan, visited East Palestine to quell the anger and fears, but residents are still unhappy and skeptical of the testing.

The largest remaining issue is that water quality connected to the Ohio River, which is still being monitored. The governor has recommended only drinking bottled water.

The Overall Impacts

The town of East Palestine is home to just over 4,000 people and the crash happened dangerously close to the city of Pittsburgh, PA. Contamination in the water supply have led to the deaths of thousands of fish and people are now complaining of reactions to the chemical leakage.

Norfolk Southern has set up an Assistance Center and donated over $1 million to help people cover costs of evacuation, as well as conducting extensive testing of air and water quality. The governor is now calling for tighter regulations on rail companies and a number of lawsuits have been filed against Norfolk Southern.

Related Topics:transportation logistics US Chemicals trains ohio vinyl chloride train derailment

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Misc

Ranked: America’s Best Universities

Evaluated on 19 different metrics, here’s the list of America’s best universities, led by 14 private schools.

Published

4 days ago

November 25, 2023

Pallavi Rao

Ranked: America’s Best Universities

The latest ranking of America’s best universities is here, perfectly timed for the approaching admissions season.

“Best” is of course subjective, and U.S. News and World Report has compiled 19 metrics on which they evaluated more than 400 national universities. Some of them include:

Graduation rates & performance: A four-year rolling average of the proportion of each entering class earning a bachelor’s degree in six years or less. Performance is measured against predictions made by the publishers, and when beaten, the university gains a higher scoring.
Peer assessment: A two-year weighted average of ratings from top academics—presidents, provosts and deans of admissions—on academic quality of peer institutions with which they are familiar.
Financial resources: The average per student spend on instruction, research, student services and related educational expenditures in the 2021 fiscal year.
Debt: A school’s average accumulated federal loan debt among borrowers only.
Pell graduation rates & performance: the same calculation as stated above, but focused only on Pell Grant students, adjusted to give more credit to schools with larger Pell student proportions.

The website’s methodology section details how they sourced their data, the weights assigned to each metric, and their changes over the years.

From the hundreds assessed come the nearly 50 best universities that offer a variety of undergraduate majors, post-graduate programs, emphasize research, or award professional practice doctorates.

Which are the Best Universities in America?

At the top of the list, Princeton University is the best university in the country, known for its physics, economics, and international relations departments. Notably, it’s a rare Ivy league university that does not have a law, medical, or business school.

Here’s the full ranking of America’s best universities, along with annual tuition requirements.

Rank	School Name	State	Tuition
1	Princeton University	New Jersey	$59,710
2	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Massachusetts	$60,156
3	Harvard University	Massachusetts	$59,076
3	Stanford University	California	$62,484
5	Yale University	Connecticut	$64,700
6	University of Pennsylvania	Pennsylvania	$66,104
7	California Institute of Technology	California	$63,255
7	Duke University	North Carolina	$66,172
9	Brown University	Rhode Island	$68,230
9	Johns Hopkins University	Maryland	$63,340
9	Northwestern University	Illinois	$65,997
12	Columbia University	New York	$65,524
12	Cornell University	New York	$66,014
12	University of Chicago	Illinois	$65,619
15	University of California, Berkeley	California	$48,465 (out-state) $15,891 (in-state)
15	University of California, LA	California	$46,326 (out-state) $13,752 (in-state)
17	Rice University	Texas	$58,128
18	Dartmouth College	New Hampshire	$65,511
18	Vanderbilt University	Tennessee	$63,946
20	University of Notre Dame	Indiana	$62,693
21	University of Michigan, Ann Arbor	Michigan	$57,273 (out-state) $17,786 (in-state)
22	Georgetown University	Washington, DC	$65,082
22	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	North Carolina	$39,338 (out-state) $8,998 (in-state)
24	Carnegie Mellon University	Pennsylvania	$63,829
24	Emory University	Georgia	$60,774
24	University of Virginia	Virginia	$58,950 (out-state) $22,323 (in-state)
24	Washington University, St. Louis	Missouri	$62,982
28	University of California, Davis	California	$46,043 (out-state) $15,266 (in-state)
28	University of California, San Diego	California	$48,630 (out-state) $16,056 (in-state)
28	University of Florida	Florida	$28,658 (out-state) $6,381 (in-state)
28	University of Southern California	California	$68,237
32	University of Texas, Austin	Texas	$41,070 (out-state) $11,698 (in-state)
33	Georgia Institute of Technology	Georgia	$32,876 (out-state) $11,764 (in-state)
33	University of California, Irvine	California	$47,759 (out-state) $15,185 (in-state)
35	New York University	New York	$60,438
35	University of California, Santa Barbara	California	$45,658 (out-state) $14,881 (in-state)
35	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	Illinois	$36,068 (out-state) $17,572 (in-state)
35	University of Wisconsin, Madison	Wisconsin	$40,603 (out-state) $11,205 (in-state)
39	Boston College	Massachusetts	$67,680
40	Rutgers University, New Brunswick	New Jersey	$36,001 (out-state) $17,239 (in-state)
40	Tufts University	Massachusetts	$67,844
40	University of Washington	Washington	$41,997 (out-state) $12,643 (in-state)
43	Boston University	Massachusetts	$65,168
43	The Ohio State University	Ohio	$36,722 (out-state) $12,485 (in-state)
43	Purdue University, Main Campus	Indiana	$28,794 (out-state) $9,992 (in-state)
46	University of Maryland, College Park	Maryland	$40,306 (out-state) $11,505 (in-state)
47	Lehigh University	Pennsylvania	$62,180
47	Texas A&M University	Texas	$40,607 (out-state) $12,413 (in-state)
47	University of Georgia	Georgia	$30,220 (out-state) $11,180 (in-state)
47	University of Rochester	New York	$64,384
47	Virginia Tech	Virginia	$36,090 (out-state) $15,478 (in-state)
47	Wake Forest University	North Carolina	$64,758
53	Case Western Reserve University	Ohio	$62,234
53	Florida State University	Florida	$21,683 (out-state) $6,517 (in-state)
53	Northeastern University	Massachusetts	$63,141
53	University of Minnesota, Twin Cities	Minnesota	$36,402 (out-state) $16,488 (in-state)
53	William & Mary	Virginia	$48,841 (out-state) $25,041 (in-state)

MIT places second, and Harvard and Stanford tie for third. Yale rounds out the top five.

Private universities, including seven Ivy League colleges, dominate the top of the rankings. Meanwhile, the highest-ranked public schools are tied at 15th, both state schools in California.

For affordability, since the higher ranks are populated by private universities, there tends to be a broad correlation of better universities being more expensive. That said, the most expensive school in the top 50 ranks is actually the University of Southern California, tied at 28th, for $68,237/year.

As it happens, also tied at 28th, the University of Florida is the most affordable public school for in-state students ($6,381/year) and Florida State University tied at 53rd, is the most affordable for out-of-staters at $21,683/year.

However these costs are tuition-only, and don’t account for other necessary expenses: accommodation, food, and textbooks.

Best University versus Best “Fit”

Finding the best university for prospective students is more than just perusing a long ranking list.

Aside from the numerous schools present within each university—which can often be the best for specific majors—factors like location, proximity to family, campus culture, the non-academic pursuits (sports, extracurriculars, internships) are also taken into consideration.

In fact, research has found that just attaining a university degree improves future earnings potential and employability.

Furthermore, individual engagement at college (irrespective of the rank of the school in question) plays a far bigger role in learning and general well-being than simply attending a highly-ranked school.

However, for low income and minority students, attending a top-ranked school does improve future earnings considerably. For women, it also often results in delaying marriage and kids, which results in more work-hours and as a result, more pay.