On Sunday March 26, yet another train derailment occurred while carrying hazardous materials. This time a Canada Pacific train moving through North Dakota. The train spilled petroleum during the latest toxic railway incident, affecting thirty one of its seventy cars.

The train derailed around 11:15 pm according to initial reports. Hazmat experts and emergency personnel reached the scene as early as Monday morning in Richland County, North Dakota. The area where the spill occurred was snowy and cold, allowing the spilled materials to freeze for an easy cleanup, unfortunately it could take up to ten days, officials say. Thankfully, this method poses a minimal threat to public safety. With the East Palestine and more recent North Dakota derailment many have voiced their concern for insufficient regulation of transportation for hazardous materials.

In the last year, our country has been ridden with insufficient control of hazardous materials. Norfolk Southern failed to alert conductors in the east Palestine incident, that the cars carrying the toxic materials were severely overheated. Causing a spill of toxic materials containing vinyl chloride, known to cause liver cancer. The solution for the spill was a controlled burn sending the toxic material into our atmosphere.
Last Friday, in Minneapolis, a nuclear plant was shut down after the water nearby was contaminated with radioactive material for the second time.

In November, Xcel Energy said about 400,000 gallons of water was tainted by tritium and then proceeded to leak after a failed repair job.

With all these recents incidents, it has become clear that our government does not care to regulate hazardous materials. If these materials can cause copious amounts of damage it seems in the best interest of all to regulate the transportation, storage, and cleanup of hazardous materials. This will ensure safety for our environment and citizens.