40,000 pounds of contaminated soil being transported away from East Palestine, Ohio was spilled in the eastern Ohio county of Columbiana at 1 PM on Monday, according to several local news sources. The spill occurred as a truck driver, 74-year-old Phillip Falck of McDonald, Penn., was driving a vehicle full of hazardous material that originated in East Palestine. The northbound tractor-trailer traveled off of the roadway and hit both a ditch and utility pole before overturning onto its right side. The truck overturned on State Route 165 just north of Waterford Road.
The spill continues a recent trend of repeated hazardous material leaks, explosions and spills from trucks and trains — which critics say reflects the decades-long fight to deregulate the transportation industry, spearheaded by lobbyists working for corporations in that sector.
