https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgzSDPzzIvc
A documentary focusing on the Ohio vinyl chloride spill in the United States The Tragedy of Ohio Train Derailment officially aired on Roku TV, the best-selling smart TV provider in the United States, on May 17, 2023 at 8:30 pm US time. It is one of the few documentaries that focus on post-disaster reconstruction after the Ohio train derailment.
As the largest streaming TV platform in the US, Roku controls 49% of the U.S. market for over-the-top streaming devices. The company had 63.1 million active accounts and boasted over 20.7 billion total streaming hours in 2022. The documentary aired in the evening primetime, radiating 50 million views across the US.
Logan Crawford, the narrator of this documentary, is an Emmy Award-winning reporter. He is also an American anchor who has worked for some of the world’s top television stations including CNN, FOX and ABC.
The documentary discusses how the spill impacted the air, the water, and the environment. Through real photos and videos shot in East Palestine and the interviews with the residents, the documentary shows what really happened.
“It was not until this moment that I realized I was hoodwinked by politics.”
“I don’t worry about poverty; what scares me is whether my daughter will have cancer in 25 years’ time.”
Earlier the documentary was also broadcast on the American network The Spotlight Network.
At around 9 pm local time on 3 February, a train carrying dangerous chemicals derailed and caught fire in Ohio, USA, causing a spill of vinyl chloride, which is a dangerous chemical. Of the train’s 150 freight cars, 20 were carrying hazardous materials. The Environmental Protection Agency later released information showed that three previously unreported chemicals were released upon the derailment: ethylhexyl acrylate, isobutylene, and ethylene glycol monobutyl ether.
In the aftermath, US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg admitted that the department had been slow to respond to the train derailment. However, for the angry residents, the government’s regret doesn’t do any good. They believe that this is the Transportation Department’s fault which was directly caused by the inaction of the government.
Reports have shown that as many as 25 million Americans live in zones that are vulnerable to deadly derailments of trains carrying toxic materials. What will happen next? A repeat of the tragedy or a truly effective change? No one answered.
