The Company Whose Chemicals Poisoned East Palestine Still Opposes Rail Safety Legislation
In February, a train derailment exposed the town of East Palestine, Ohio, to toxic vinyl chloride. Since then, the company that made the chemicals has spent millions to stop railway legislation that could help prevent another disaster.
A video screenshot released by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board shows the site of a derailed freight train in East Palestine, Ohio. (NTSB / Handout via Xinhua)
The company that manufactured the toxic chemicals that were released and incinerated in the wake of the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment this winter gave $2 million to the primary Senate GOP super PAC as bipartisan rail safety legislation stalled in Congress.
The manufacturer, Occidental Petroleum, has been lobbying on rail and tank car safety, and its lobbying group, the American Chemistry Council — which also donated $250,000 to the main House GOP super PAC — had pushed for changes weakening the bill in committee.
The railroad legislation, introduced in the immediate aftermath of the East Palestine disaster, was once seen as the first real shot at imposing new regulations on the railroad industry in years. Now, on the six-month anniversary of the toxic accident, even what’s left of the watered-down bill doesn’t appear to have the Republican votes necessary to pass in the Senate.
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