Notable mention from article about why this could easily reach us:

That downwind location is why Maine is often referred to as “the tailpipe of the nation,” according to Jeff Crawford, director of the Maine Bureau of Air Quality.

“Maine, because of its geographic location, is at the downwind terminus of the northeast corridor,” Crawford said. “It is especially impacted by transported emissions from states and regions to our south.”

“If we monitored elevated levels of vinyl chloride last week, these levels would most certainly be detected by our analytical lab,” Crawford said. “With respect to specific health concerns or impacts from vinyl chloride, the [Maine Department of Environmental Protection] always defers to the Maine Center for Disease Control.”

Link for those who need help getting over a paywall

good bot

"It could be March before environmental officials here know if any of the deadly chemicals from last week’s train derailment in Ohio reached Maine. But even if they did end up here, it is likely in amounts too small to present a health hazard."

Yeah March until they know the results. I want to know where the opinion on whether it is likely too small amounts comes from though, I doubt the author is qualified to make that assumption. But would love for it to be true, just would prefer to see some sources or something.

Just look at the air testing data from the actual crash site. Concentrations of the most hazardous chemicals there fell to the non-detectable level almost immediately.

Woah woah woah woah woah!!!

Don’t worry about this, didn’t you hear that there are ‘Chinese’ weather balloons????

The air is fine, you should be clicking articles about the balloons not this pesky tiny risk to rail safety and EPA regulations

The leadership from the Feds is amazing on this issue. This isn't Trumps DC anymore, its real leadership.

That is great to hear! My only concern is a lot of these ecological disasters are covered up as much as possible for as long as possible but are always worse than what they initially claim.

But I'll be very happy if it doesn't reach Maine in any substantial / harmful amounts!

Readings are taken only every 6 days, with the last being Feb 11? Crash occurred Feb 3. Means 1 round of tests 2 days after crash? Something might show up.

> If we monitored elevated levels of vinyl chloride last week

Weird that we don't dig into why this is an 'if' and not a 'because we monitored, we saw' here.

This bot is the real mvp.

I think it's just processing lag. Probably take sample but process lags, as that is not something that is usually looked for.

And frankly the amount of burned chemical is miniscule compared to the atmospheric dilution. I'm going with this event outside the immediate area is environmentally irrelevant.

Oh, thank god you've determined that. Ok. Nothing to see here! This guy says it's irrelevant

They did collect samples. They do that every 6 days year round per the article. But the samples take a few weeks to analyze.

So the quote is saying that if levels were elevated then it will show up in the monitoring samples from last week, but they won’t get the analysis results of those samples back until March.

That's baseless speculation. Nothing in your response addresses the fate and transport of this specific pollutant or the as yet publicly unknown chemicals that were also onboard.

What you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

A rail car tank holds maybe 6,000 cubic feet. Vaporize that in a single cubic mile of air and you are already diluted to 1 part per 25 million.

Mmm sure. Except its simple math. Air mixes rapidly. The volume of the rail cars is known. Water quality hazard in the area and downstream? Definitely. Local air quality hazard sure. 1000 miles away after atmospheric mixing? Parts per billion. Or less.

Is everyone forgetting about 9/11? They deemed it “safe” for emergency responders to go into the wreckage. Thousands have developed cancer and other illnesses.

weird it takes weeks when there's probably tens of millions of dollars worth of spectroscopy equipment here between all the labs and pharma co's

Even if it's worse than expected we are so far away. This is going to be bad for the immediate area, but all the way up here any impact seems incredibly unlikely.

It’s a little more complicated than just pressing a button on a random GCMS at Idexx.

Source: science education

Trump DID reverse an Obama Era regulation on new brake systems. Just like he got rid of our pandemic response teams... It's not unfair to bring him up

I've been out of the lab for a decade now - I just know words that can get me into trouble ;)

Lol. Don’t tell me you were basing the decision of Maine’s armed response to Ohio on an unvalidated test method.

more just suggesting we have a ton of equipment around to support running spectroscopy assays if it turned out that spectrophotometers and personnel were driving up the result times is all

If you want to panic and freak out, by all means panic and freak out.

However, be an adult about it and stop demanding that the people who don't want to panic and freak out, well, panic and freak out.

Yes the government says it's safe when it's not. Are you going to put on your scuba gear for the next month? No? Then relax. It's ok to not get upset about literally everything that stress is going to kill you.

Probably because vinyl chloride isn't a constant issue to be on the lookout for.

I wonder if the mysterious foul order reported in central Maine had anything to do with this.

The control burn happened on Feb 6 and the reported foul order was on Feb 10, so the timeline would make sense...

Here's the article about the mysterious smell: https://fox23maine.com/news/local/bizarre-augusta-area-residents-baffled-foul-smell-reported-10-communities-maine-kennebec-river-oakland-waterville-richmond

Biden DID squash Union negotiations. Both people are allowed to be fuck ups. Not fixing the problem is just as bad as creating one.

Has anyone ever actually heard Maine referred to as "the tailpipe of the nation"?

Agreed, thats why I point out on most issues both party's are the same. Party's of capital. Less zoning and rules = more profits for real estate. Less train rules = more profits for train company's.

Research how far winds carried dust during the Dust Bowl and get back to us.

Odd, I don't see anyone here demanding you freak out about it. Nor was anything in the article demanding it, either. Mayhaps you need to come down off that horse for a bit and mingle with the rest of us. You might be getting elevated levels of vinyl chloride up there.

Thats your opinion. Just because it's different than mine doesn't mean you're right. Try to avoid being condescending Just because we aren't face to face.

This seems deeply insecure. People need to freak out more but know how to direct their anger. Norfolk Southern spent a shit ton to lobby to repeal brake regulations and they overwork their workers.

Or Chernobyl...

I know very little about weather patterns, but I think it likely would take more than 2 days for any significant contaminants to arrive here. But I see your point

Yes, the Hathaway Man used to say that.

Surprisingly yes, but it was more in the context of coal emissions from the Midwest/Appalachia and Maine having the third highest rate of asthma in the country behind Hawaii and Massachusetts (surprising based on how rural we are comparatively)

You think it's deeply insecure because you're projecting. You see what you look for.

I'm addressing the individuals reacting to the air quality of Maine, not the disaster itself.

I'm not projecting, and I'm personally not freaking out. I let it sink in a long time ago we're screwed. However for a lot of others, it's becoming clear we are existentially threatened right now by climate change and infrastructure breaking down because of a horrible system that makes money on both climate change and having shitty infrastructure. I think if more people freaked out 30 years, we'd be in better shape.

I talked to my Mom last night. She's in Maine and pretty much will only watch NBC Nightly News. I asked her if she heard of this. Nope! She had no idea. Anyone have any speculation as to why this is practically not talked about by the media? I find it bizarre and a bit scary as I'm about 10 hours downwind to this thing. It also might be my imagination but I've practically had no birds at my feeders for the past two days. WTH!

Thats your opinion though. And mine is contrary. I've got better things to do than care about things I can't change

I live my life too and enjoy it as much as I can as next as the fellow human. I walk my dog and enjoy good food and company of friends and family. I'm not at home doom scrolling 24/7. But ignoring facts is really not going to do you much good. I wish you luck with the better things you have to do. I hope you continue to have the privilege to do them

The amount of particulate from the dust bowl is on a completely different scale to a train derailment. People are making this about themselves when the actual risk to anyone not in the area of the disaster is likely to be vanishingly small. If you want to worry about this feel for the poor people in the watershed or around where it happened. Don't panic for yourself some 700 miles away

Never. Sounds like a pejorative term just like certain municipalities have been dubbed “the asshole of New England”.

How would you handle this, starting now?

All those summer time ozone warnings... plus, for those of us familiar with Mt. Washington, everything atmospheric swings on by up there.

Hathaway. Man, I sure do miss those fine quality shirts.

Welp, here is what the burn looked like from a passing airliner: https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/112ptb9/passenger_photo_while_plane_flew_near_east/

You might enjoy this photo from a passing airliner: https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/112ptb9/passenger_photo_while_plane_flew_near_east/

It was on with Lester Holt for a few consecutive days at least.

"mayhaps"

Now there is a Maine phrase if ever there was.

Get the payloaders out there, scoop out the burn pits, put out more than one air sampler, put clean fill all around, and fine the railroad company a meaningful amount above just the cost of clean up and mitigation (includes purchase of homes for those who wish to leave the affected area).

I'm sure whatever the government finds, that it will be extremely honest and upfront with information. /s

Why would capitalism advertise its own failings?

This accident happened because of a large company cutting back safety measures to save a buck. Combined with the state using its power to crush union workers who wanted more safety measures in place....

So it's capitalism and corrupt government working together that created a disaster.... and you expect them to use their "news" channels to advertise this???

Officially, bad things only happen under other systems. Under capitalism everything is an "oopsy" and not that big of a deal.

Wow, looks like cancer...

It's either the Ohio train derailment or the Chinese spy balloons and whatever the fuck other flying objects they've been shooting down like it's IRL Duck Hunt.

I don't think I need to explain which news story takes priority and I don't think I need to explain why it takes priority.

And just because your opinion is different from mine doesn't mean you're right, either. Goes both ways, budster.

But not within 24 to 48 hours which is when we would have expected to see results from Ohio contamination.

Yes. I was happy when Kodak closed shop. https://www.wbfo.org/2002-04-26/environmentalists-are-critical-of-kodak-pollution

Exactly. They said we would expect to receive contamination between 24 and 48 hours. By Feb 11 that ship has sailed and left behind?? Maybe they can extrapolate the decomposition of the initial dose over time and work backwards to figure it out.

I'm not denying climate change I'm also not really worrying about it. I can recycle and acknowledge the need to improve our lives without losing sleep over it

Yes I agree that's how opinions work. Are you going to respond to mine or what

I'm not any under obligation to, but sure, I'll respond to yours.

Like WalkerBRiley said, no one's demanding we freak out--the article literally states that if the impacts did hit here then it would be low-hazard. At best, however, we should be concerned. This is a serious event with very serious consequences and anyone who isn't at the very least concerned about it...well, I worry for 'em.

Yes- especially in the 80s with acid rain worries.

Dramatic? Sure, but that’s not a science based response.

Yes

>that’s not a science based response.

wut?

You're right you're not obligated to respond to my opinion but I have to ask, if you weren't going to respond to my opinion why are you responding at all

I was actually planning to respond with my own opinion before I read the entire conversation and decided to respond to the further stupidity presented instead.

Just because I respond to someone's comment calling out their stupidity doesn't mean I need to state my opinion on the issue the post is talking about. It's possible and it's allowed to do both.

And what is this "stupidity" that's more important to you than what we are actually talking about?

Jumping the gun and accusing Walker of being condescending on the sole basis that you two aren't talking in-person.

For someone who doesn't want to talk about this and wants to talk about what the post is actually about...you seem to be exercising the opposite of that pretty damn hard.

Well he told me to come down off my high horse without asking what I meant. Thats pretty condescending in my opinion.

Something I said has convinced you that you need to tell me that my opinion isn't fact. As if I don't understand that. Which is also rude.

So maybe you two can get together about assuming other people's thoughts and completely disregard asking questions to clarify.

[deleted]

Fear porn 🥱

Not fear mongering lmao, I selected that one block of text because it explained why/how this could potentially reach us and that the event is actually relevant to us.

Because my initial thought when reading about this event over a week ago was "luckily that can't reach us it's so far away" (and I bet a lot of people had that same thought).

But looks like I was wrong and it is definitely possible to reach us and that block explains how it can reach us.

Didn't seem like you understood that your opinion isn't fact at first. That's why I pointed it out to you.

You're the one that posted a stupid comment about the story. We're under no obligation to answer, but we both did anyway, just in different areas. I, at least, have learned that you can't really argue with stupid, but you can call it out.

You're assuming I'm an idiot and then calling me an idiot. You'll die on that hill too I bet. That's why I don't continue giving you my opinion on this subject because clearly you're not here in good faith. So if you're done being a miserable rude person I think we can end this?

ASSumptions make an ASS out of you. They do not, however, make an ASS out of me because I'm not the one assuming weird shit and getting defensive over what I say. You can't really assume something that's the truth.

It is 56 degrees outside. Go touch grass instead of being so protective over what you say on the Internet and continuing to butt heads with me. Breathe in the fresh air. Take it aaaaaaall in.

I've only been addressing how you've been responding to me. You're not listening because you haven't learned how too yet. You're probably sub 30 years old and wondering why everyone else isn't as smart as you.

If you weren't such a jerk you'd have better things to do right now

Oh I'm listening. I'm laughing at how much of a fool you're making yourself out to be right now, and listening.

Keep making ASSumptions and keep making an ASS out of yourself while you scrabble to have the last word.

Why are you just repeating what I'm saying but more rudely?

That stench was all the way up to Bucksport