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East Palestine Derailment

from Rust Belt Ballads by Emmett Doyle

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Northfolk Southern 32N, hauling 150 cars including loads of chloroethene (vinyl chloride), butyl acrylate, 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, isobutylene, combustible liquids, and benzene residue, derailed in the town of East Palestine, OH, at 8:55 pm on Feb 3, 2023.

At the initial crash, several cars of industrial chemicals caught fire and began to pollute the immediate area. Local emergency crews made the call to do a controlled burn of further derailed cars, releasing hydrogen chloride and phosgene into the air. 1000,000 of hazardous materials leaked out of the derailed cars, and killed over 40,000 fish and other aquatic animals in the nearby watershed, which feeds into the Ohio River.

The impact of this derailment is still unfolding. I wrote the song during the recording of the album.

lyrics

It was comin’ through the pine on that Norfolk-Southern line, steamin’ at three engines strong
And sailed over the rails through East Palestine, a hundred and fifty cars long
A fast-rolling mile of tankers, industrial chemical filled
But there’s fire on the snow where those tanker cars glow, and there’s clouds brewin’ over the hills

Chorus
And that trains come rollin’ through like thunder
And those shakes go rattlin’ through the stone
And the spill they burned away, is settled in the clay
And that ache is settin’ in my bones

Life’s like a jail for the men who work the rail, its man and machine to the brink
And those red tired eyes are telling no lies, the chain’s gotta crack in the links
And the carriers cut every corner, and the workers they warned me and you
But red and blue alike crushed the railroad strike, to keep the stock rollin’ through,

Chorus

There’s dead fish down in the river,
There’s a reek of the fire on the wind
And we’ve choked on that smoke that the chemicals stoked,
And there’s poison working under your skin

[Instrumental verse]

Chorus

credits

from Rust Belt Ballads, released September 1, 2023

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Emmett Doyle Minneapolis, Minnesota

Emmett is a working class rebel musician- a union carpenter, former river deckhand, raised on a farm in central Minnesota. With American country and blues and Irish traditional roots, he keeps the Long Memory going while singing about today's struggles. His work is rooted in social movements he's an active part of, from labor to defending the earth to fighting hate. ... more

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