Chemical Spill in New Jersey

The train cars in the Mantua River. Photo from the South Jersey Times. 

New Jersey can't seem to catch a break. According to the South Jersey Times a bridge collapse has caused a train derailment and chemical spill into Mantua Creek in Paulsboro, New Jersey early this morning. Three tanker cars spilled their contents in to the creek. One car spilled the chemical vinyl chloride and the chemicals spilled by the other cars are still unknown. Vinyl chloride is poisonous. Certain areas like a nearby school have been locked down and people experiencing respiratory prob;lems re being told to go the emergency room. The South Jersey Times provided a list of facts about vinyl chloride.

• It's used to make PVC which is used in a variety of common plastic products such as pipes, cable coatings, packing materials etc.
• Heavier than air and can travel along the ground
• Burns easily is not stable at high temperatures
• Exposure may cause eye or throat irritation, headache, shortness of breath.
• Breathing high levels of Vinyl Chloride can cause dizziness and/or sleepiness
• Breathing very high levels can cause loss of consciousness
• Breathing extremely high levels can cause death

This accident is an example of a technological hazard. What is also surprising to me is that according to the South Jersey Times this bridge has collapsed before. It collapsed in 2009 and a coal train spilled 16 rail cars into the same creek. There is always risk associated with using and transporting hazardous materials, but it is outrageous that the root cause of this technological hazard is shoddy bridge construction. There is a reasonable expectation for a bridge that was built to carry trains to last more than four years. The fault here lies with whoever built or repaired this bridge after the 2009 accident.

This reminds me of The Airborne Toxic Event from the book White Noise, by Don DeLillo. 

Also According to the EPA,"vinyl chloride emissions ... may reasonably be anticipated to result in an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible, or incapacitating reversible illness. Vinyl chloride is a known human carcinogen that causes a rare cancer of the liver." So yeah, awesome news for New Jersey.