This webiste is the culmination of a project worked on by Deke Dieken [deke@psu.edu], third year law student at Penn State Law and Zach Van Horn [zjv5001@psu.edu], graduate student in Engineering, Law, and Policy for the PILOTLab at Penn State University.
The PILOTLab was founded by Professor Andrea M. Matwyshyn in July 2019, and it is a pilot project of the PSU Law, Policy, and Engineering Initiative. The initative is a partnership among Penn State Engineering, Penn State Law and the School of International Affairs, focusing on interdisciplinary education and research at the forefront of societal need. The work of the lab is buttressed by a team of graduate students and expert affiliates.
The world of academic research is too often siloed across disciplines and disconnected from the world of policy. PILOTLab seeks to bridge the gap by producing and translating technology research that policy makers need to inform their innovation policy decisions.
Through its projects and events, PILOTLab strives to stimulated the converstaion around how to (re)build the technology economy in a sustainable manner, guided by legal and ethical principles.
On February 2, 2023 - Norfolk Southern train 32N left Madison Yard in Illinois heading eastward crewed by two workers and a trainee. It was approximately 9,300 ft. long and weighed 18,000 tons. It comprised of two head-end locomotives and 149 train cars - 20 of which were placarded hazardous materials tanks.
At 8:00PM local time - NS 32N passed through Salem, OH. Security camera footage showed sparks and flames coming from car #23.
Defect detectors recorded higher than ambient temperatures at three mileposts (MP):
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38°F at MP 79.90
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103°F at MP 69.01
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253°F at MP 49.81
It wasn't until they came to a full stop that the crew observed 38 cars had derailed including five DOT-105 tankers carrying 23,000 gallons of vinyl chloride, each.
At 8:53PM - 20 miles east of Salem near East Palestine, Ohio, the engineer was alerted of the increasing temperatures and applied the train's dynamic air brakes.
The vinyl chloride in the tankers began to rapidly polymerize. The chemical reactions increased the pressure and temperatures inside the tanks, triggering the pressure relief valves to open and release the burning compounds.
Three of the five tankers had aluminum springs and protective housings over their valves. It's believed that the aluminum melted, plugging the valves and stopping the pressure from being relieved in the tanks.
Expansion of the liquid in the in the tanks and the failure of the pressure relief valves caused a rise in pressure, the emergency response guidebook for vinyl chloride states "containers may explode when heated," and "Ruptured cylendars may rocket" (ERG Response Guide 116 - ERG 2020 (noaa.gov)). The ERG also advises to cool containers with flooding quantities of water, but not to direct water at the source of a leak or at saftey devices such as vents.