Will There Be Justice for Ohio Residents?

by

by Chris Black

The residents of East Palestine, Ohio and nearby communities are likely to see little if any actual justice for the ecological and economic disaster which has just befallen their area.

The United States is one of the few countries in the world where rail infrastructure is largely owned by private companies, despite having been made possible by public land grants and tax dollars.

Yet this infrastructure is not used for a public good, and is controlled by oligopolies.

Amtrak is underinvested in, and sidelined by the major freight owners. Bypasses and dual track lines are ripped up, and workers are mistreated.

If, like most of the developed world, the United States had state ownership of railway lines and related infrastructure, the people of East Palestine would have somewhere to turn and people to hold accountable.

As it stands now there is no one to be held accountable, as the Federal and state courts are likely to shelter Norfolk Southern from responsibility.

All 160,000 miles of US railways should be nationalized and placed under the oversight of the respective states. Passenger rail and affordable freight rail should become priorities.

Just as the recently scorned railway workers demanded , and to ensure that never again will a community like East Palestine be left without someone to hold accountable.

The US government has been very committed to letting the railway companies and the airlines do basically whatever they want—thanks, deregulation.

If train derailments cause an average of 4 deaths per year, then already having one just over a month into 2023 isn’t looking great. And there’s the whole matter of loosening safety regulations, or poor enforcement of existing regulations.

For instance, United Airlines was recently caught neglecting to run pre-flight checks on fire detection sensors , which are supposed to be mandated by federal regulations. These sensors could mean the difference between preempting a serious engine failure or loss of other critical equipment.

United will be fined, of course, but $1.15mil is an insignificant fine by the standards of a multibillion dollar corporation.

Airlines neglecting safety protocols have been a major cause of disasters in the past. 

When it comes to the railways, it’s a similar story. In the case of East Palestine, OH, the rail company Norfolk Southern has a history of lobbying against various safety regulations, and shown a resistance towards updating its equipment.

There’s no reason to believe this stuff is going to get better when our evil government has its own long history of letting these fuckers get away with this stuff. 

Some in the transportation sector like to grimly joke that the regulations we do have are “written in blood.”