近期，美国俄亥俄州列车脱轨导致的毒气泄漏事件在网络上持续发酵，相关热搜词条层出不穷。由于脱轨的车厢载有氯乙烯等危险化学品，燃烧后释放出大量有毒气体，当地人拍到“毒云”遮天蔽日的景象，方圆数公里内大量居民因面临致命气体威胁而紧急疏散。在海外，美国网友提问，俄亥俄州毒气泄露事件有多严重？为什么美国官方和主流媒体一直隐瞒这一事故？我们看看网友们的观点。
美国记者兰迪•韦尔的回答
How bad is it? Let me put it this way: they arrested a reporter who tried to cover this matter, which is bad enough. His name is Evan Lambert, a famous investigative journalist who writes for NewsNation. You can still check his name online.
有多糟糕？让我这样说：他们逮捕了一名试图报道此事的记者，这已经够糟糕了。他的名字叫埃文·兰伯特，是一名著名的调查记者，为NewsNation撰稿，你现在仍然可以在网上查他的名字。
There are about 10000 train accidents in the United States every year, but this accident is particularly serious because the chemical on the train – vinyl chloride, which is highly carcinogenic. When burned (as shown below), it produces hydrogen chloride and phosgene, which were used as chemical weapons in the First World War.
美国每年约有10000起火车事故发生，但这起事故尤其严重，因为车上的化学物质——氯乙烯，它具有高度的致癌性。当燃烧时（如下图所示），它会产生氯化氢和光气，后者曾在第一次世界大战中被用作化学武器。
Yes, this is the photo of the accident scene. If I tell you that this is a nuclear weapon attack by the Russian army on a Ukrainian town, you may also believe it. You will vote for countries to launch a counterattack on this.
是的，这是事故现场的照片。如果我告诉你这是俄罗斯军队对乌克兰城镇的核武器袭击，你可能也会相信的，你会投票支持各国就此发动反击大战。
As a result of this leakage, most areas of Ohio may eventually become uninhabitable (well, even more uninhabitable than it is now). A large part of the local population may suffer from cancer. Now these chemicals have entered the water supply system. Who knows how much damage will be caused in the near future.
这次泄漏的结果是，俄亥俄州的大部分地区可能最终变得不适合居住（好吧，甚至比现在更不适合居住），大片当地人口可能患上癌症，现在这些化学物质已经进入供水系统，谁知道在不久的将来会造成多大的破坏。
Sil Caggiano, an expert in the management of hazardous materials, told the US news media WKBN-TV that the East Palestine had basically been "nucleated" by chemicals to restore the operation of the railway line.
危险材料管理专家西尔·卡吉亚诺（Sil Caggiano）告诉美国新闻媒体WKBN-TV，东巴勒斯坦基本上已经被化学物质“核化”，以使铁路线恢复运行。
He said: "There are many 'assumptions'. We will consider this problem in the next five, ten, fifteen and twenty years, and want to know' Alas, cancer may suddenly appear, and groundwater quality may deteriorate '.
他说：“有很多‘假设’，我们将在未来五年、十年、十五年、二十年里考虑这个问题，并想知道‘哎呀，癌症可能会突然出现，地下水水质可能会变坏”。
Mr. Caggiano suggested that local residents should have a health examination to record their current health status, so that they can record any possible health problems caused by train derailment.
Caggiano先生建议当地居民进行健康检查，以记录他们目前的健康状况，这样他们就可以记录因火车出轨而导致的任何可能的健康问题。
This is one of the most serious chemical disasters in modern history, which is comparable to Chernobyl. So why not focus on these and important things, while you are led by the media to be angry with a random Chinese weather balloon?
这是近代史上最严重的化学灾难之一，简直堪比切尔诺贝利。那么，为什么不把注意力集中在这些及其重要的事情上，而你却被媒体引导对一个随机的中国天气气球感到愤怒呢？
切尔诺贝利
For reference only, the leak occurred almost two weeks ago on February 3, the day before the large-scale exhibition of the US military shooting down a balloon worth US $100 with several US $400000 missiles.
仅供参考，这起泄漏事件发生在几乎两周前的2月3日，美国军方就用几枚40万美元的导弹击落一个价值100美元的气球的大型展览前一天。
In retrospect, this is really a typical political farce.
回想起来，这真的是典型的政治闹剧的样子。
Just like the recent accusation that the United States destroyed the North Stream pipeline. This is a very detailed report from Sy Hersh, one of the most respected journalists in history. It involves one of the most important acts of industrial terrorism, which has led to the largest scale of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere and the largest ecological disaster for a long time.
就像最近关于美国破坏北溪管道的指控一样。这是一份非常详细的报告，来自Sy Hersh——有史以来最受尊敬的记者之一。它涉及到一个最重要的工业恐怖主义行为，它导致了向大气中排放的温室气体达到有史以来的最大规模，以及长期以来最大的生态灾难。
Stories like this should be on the front page of the major news media at least within one month, but no, what is the front page headline of the media?
像这样的故事至少应该在一个月内登上各大新闻媒体的头版，但是没有，媒体的头版头条是什么？
A floating weather balloon, this time from tens of thousands of meters of outer space.
一个飘扬在外的气象气球，这次来自几万米的外太空。
Whenever these people tell you to focus on something, we should ask them what it is.
每当这些人告诉你要专注于某件事时，我们应该要问他们这件事到底是什么。
美国网友盖•康贝尔的回答
Conclusion: The train derailment in Ohio should be attributed to the lobbying system of the United States (at least to some extent).
结论：俄亥俄州火车出轨事件应归咎于美国的游说系统（至少一定程度上是这样的）。
According to the report of the National Transportation Safety Board, the accident occurred because "the wheel bearing was in the final stage of overheating failure before derailment". This can be prevented by limiting the running speed and implementing more advanced brakes (such as ECP).
根据美国国家运输安全委员会（National Transportation Safety Board）的报告，事故的发生是由于“脱轨前车轮轴承处于过热故障的最后阶段”。通过限制运行速度和实施更先进的制动器（如ECP），可以防止这种情况的发生。
For a long time, the Federal Railway Administration has been trying to implement stricter regulations on transportation. In 2015, they formulated a rule requiring the use of electronically controlled pneumatic brakes (ECP) for highly hazardous and flammable unit trains (HHFUT) after 2023.
长期以来，联邦铁路管理局一直试图对运输实施更严格的规定。2015年，他们制定了一项规则，要求2023年后高危险易燃单元列车（HHFUT）采用电控气动制动器（ECP）。
Steven Ditmeyer, a former senior official of the Federal Railway Administration, said: "The ECP brake could have prevented the accumulation of monsters behind derailed vehicles.". (According to USA Today)
联邦铁路管理局前高级官员史蒂文·迪特迈尔（Steven Ditmeyer）表示：“ECP制动器本可以避免脱轨车辆后面的怪物堆积。”。（据《今日美国》报道）
However, in 2017, under the pressure of Trump government lobbying by large railway companies, USDOT was forced to repeal this provision.
然而，2017年，面对特朗普政府在大型铁路公司游说下的压力，USDOT被迫废除了这一规定。
According to the Railway Times, railway companies are adopting the "milking" strategy; When not considering high growth, the company began to maximize profits by cutting costs and minimizing safety regulations. This is why they spend so much money lobbying against ECP regulations.
根据《铁路时代》，铁路公司正在采取“挤奶”策略；当不认为高增长时，公司开始通过削减成本和尽量减少安全法规来实现利润最大化。这就是为什么他们花这么多钱游说反对ECP法规的原因。
In fact, this is not the first time to sacrifice railway safety regulations; Faced with the need of interests, railway companies have increased the length of trains by 25% since 2008. Local officials believe that these trains may prolong the operation time and bring challenges to emergency personnel who cannot cross the track.
事实上，这不是第一次牺牲铁路安全法规；面对利益的需要，铁路公司自2008年以来已将列车长度增加了25%。当地官员认为，这些列车可能会延长运行时间，给无法穿越轨道的应急人员带来挑战。
An interesting fact is that the Norfolk Southern Railway Company is behind the Ohio derailment accident. It is also one of the most active companies lobbying against ECP regulations and railway speed limits. In the first quarter of 2015, it spent $730000 on lobbying. (For the whole year, this figure reached 2410000 US dollars)
一个有趣的事实是，诺福克南方铁路公司是俄亥俄州出轨事故的幕后黑手。它也是游说反对ECP法规和铁路限速的最活跃的公司之一。就在2015年第一季度，它在游说方面花费了73万美元。（全年，这一数字达到2410000美元）
If the lobbying group did not win the lobbying against the transportation department, the train derailed in February this year might have installed ECP brakes, and the tragedy might not happen. It is the problematic lobby system that hinders the improvement of railway safety.
如果游说团体没有赢得反对运输部门的游说，今年2月脱轨的火车可能已经安装了ECP制动器，悲剧可能不会发生。正是有问题的游说系统阻碍了铁路安全的改善。
美国网友吉尔•格兰特的回答
This news caught my attention because the news report said that the reporter who reported the incident was arrested and then released. Why? The authorities said that there was no catastrophic accident, water was safe, and so on. But people were very scared. When they left, they saw some frightening things: many animals were slowly dying, and so on.
这一消息引起了我的注意，因为新闻报道称，报道该事件的记者被捕，随后获释。为什么？当局表示，这并没有发生什么灾难性的事故，水是安全的，等等。但人们非常害怕，他们离开时看到了一些惊悚的事情：许多动物在慢慢死亡，等等。
According to the news report, the leaked gas is vinyl chloride (used to make PVC), which has lethal and carcinogenic effects and can cause cancer. I find it strange why this incident was not reported earlier, but was disclosed many days later. Why were reporters arrested? Why should we focus on voting rather than the health of American citizens? If this kind of incident happens in other countries, I think the American media will put it on the front page and accuse other countries of covering up the truth. Why is the priority of events so low, or even blind? When Quora answered a question about the same topic, one of the respondents said, "Don't mention it again. Shut up, as if nothing had happened.". Why? Why did the respondent say so?
新闻报道称，泄漏的气体是氯乙烯（用于制造PVC），具有致命和致癌作用，即可导致癌症。我发现奇怪的是，为什么这起事件没有在早些时候报告，而是在很多天后才被披露。记者为什么被捕？为什么要关注投票而不是美国公民的健康？如果这种事件发生在其他国家，我想美国媒体会把它放在头版，指责其他国家掩盖真相。为什么对事件的优先级如此低，甚至视而不见？在Quora回答一个关于同一主题的问题时，一位回答者说，不要再提了，闭上嘴，好像什么都没发生过一样。为什么？为什么回答者会这样说？
Vinyl chloride is very toxic. Inhalation will cause birth abnormalities, slow heartbeat, ECG changes, liver, stomach and other cancers. For more information, see Wikipedia.
氯乙烯毒性很强，吸入后会导致婴儿出生畸形，导致心跳减慢，心电图改变，肝脏、胃等癌症。有关详细信息，请参阅维基百科。
I agree that this is a very serious disaster. I want to know why the American authorities treat this incident so badly that it reflects a lack of respect for human rights, human life, national environmental security, etc? It reflects the supremacy of politics. If the rail car is marked as made in China, it may be immediately reported as top news and accused of China's desire to destroy the United States through the export of rail cars, while politicians quickly and enthusiastically attacked China.
我同意这是一场非常严重的灾难，我想知道为什么美国当局对待这场事件的方式如此之差，以至于它反映了对人权、人的生命、国家环境安全等的缺乏尊重？它反映了政治至高无上。如果轨道车被标记为中国制造，它可能会立即被报道为顶级新闻，并被指控中国希望通过出口轨道车摧毁美国，而政客们则迅速更加狂热地抨击中国。
海外网友迈克•琼斯的回答
East Palst, Ohio – On the quiet hills of eastern Ohio, around the once prosperous industrial town, there were signs of business as usual this week. The school is having classes, the restaurant is serving lunch, and the train is flying along the track across Market Street again.
俄亥俄州东帕尔斯特——在俄亥俄州东部宁静的山丘上，这个曾经繁荣的工业小镇周围，本周出现了照常营业的迹象。学校正在上课，餐馆正在供应午餐，火车再次沿着穿过市场街的轨道飞驰。
曾经的俄亥俄州
But there are signs around that everything is abnormal. People smell the water flowing from the faucet, check the rash in the mirror, look down at the stream, and see the green and white shallows floating on the belly of fish and frogs. The smell lingers, reminding people of a tire fire, and others of burning plastic mixed with aircraft model glue or nail polish remover.
但周围也有迹象表明一切都不正常。人们闻着水龙头里流出的水，检查镜子里的皮疹，向下凝视着小溪，看到鱼和青蛙腹部浮起的绿色白色浅滩。气味挥之不去，让人想起了轮胎起火，其他人想起了燃烧的塑料，混合了飞机模型胶或指甲油去除剂。
About two weeks ago, a Norfolk South freight train derailed in eastern Palestine. The controlled burning of toxic chemicals in the train forced hundreds of residents to evacuate the area for several days. Many people here felt scared.
大约两周前，一列诺福克南方货运列车在巴勒斯坦东部脱轨，所载有毒化学品的受控燃烧迫使数百名居民撤离该地区数天，这里的许多人都感到恐惧。
The confusing and seemingly changing information from the government and railway officials has destroyed the local trust. In this small town destroyed by decades of factories and factory closures, the credibility of the local government departments has been weak. Facebook and TikTok accounts across the country are full of rumors and suspicions about this incident.
来自政府和铁路官员的令人困惑的、似乎不断变化的信息已经破坏了当地的信任，在这个被数十年的工厂和工厂关闭所摧毁的小镇上，当地政府部门的公信力已经很薄弱。全国各地的Facebook和TikTok账户上都充斥着有关这一事件的谣言和怀疑。
On Wednesday evening, tensions intensified at the East Palestinian High School Gymnasium, where the city planned to hold an "information disclosure meeting".
周三晚上，在东巴勒斯坦高中体育馆，紧张局势加剧，该市计划在那里举行“信息公开会”。
A few hours before the meeting, Norfolk South announced that it would not participate in the meeting. A spokesman said, "We are increasingly worried that because of the increasing possibility of external participation, our employees and community members will face more and more physical threats around the event." The company did not provide any additional details about the nature or source of the threat.
在会议召开前几个小时，诺福克南方公司宣布将不参加会议，一位发言人表示，“我们越来越担心，由于外界参与的可能性越来越大，围绕此次活动，我们的员工和社区成员面临的身体威胁越来越大。“该公司没有提供有关威胁性质或来源的任何额外细节。
Due to the lack of answers, the residents felt frustrated. They urged local officials to answer their questions anyway, because they asked for more assurance that their water and houses were safe, and asked to know how to prevent this situation and how to take measures to take care of the town.
由于缺乏答案，居民们感到沮丧，他们敦促当地官员无论如何都要回答他们的问题，因为他们要求更多地保证他们的水和房屋是安全的，并要求了解如何防止这种情况，以及如何采取措施来照顾这个城镇。
On the evening of February 3, a part of the train and its dangerous chemicals initially slid off the track, leaving a fire about the size of 50 cars. Within three days after the derailment, parts of East Palestine were forced to evacuate. At that time, government officials agreed to the company's request that some chemical substances be deliberately burned to eliminate the threat of explosion, which may lead to shrapnel and toxic smoke flying out. The chemicals on board include vinyl chloride, a colorless flammable gas, which may cause headache and dizziness after inhalation, and may cause rare cancer after long-term exposure.
2月3日晚上，火车的一部分及其危险化学品最初从轨道上滑出，留下了一个大约有50辆汽车大的火堆。在脱轨事件发生后的三天内，东巴勒斯坦部分地区被迫撤离，当时政府官员同意了该公司的要求，即故意燃烧一些化学物质，以消除爆炸的威胁，爆炸可能会导致弹片和有毒烟雾飞出。船上的化学品包括氯乙烯，这是一种无色易燃气体，吸入后会引起头痛和眩晕，长期接触后可能会导致罕见的癌症。
Therese Vigliotti, 47, said: "I just don't want to be diagnosed with cancer or other diseases after 10 or 15 years because of their mistakes. She was outdoors on the night when the chemicals were burned, and said that her tongue still felt scalded. She had seen blood in her stool for two days.
47岁的特蕾丝·维格利奥蒂（Therese Vigliotti）说：“我只是不想因为他们的错误而在10年或15年后被诊断出患有癌症或其他疾病。”她在化学品被烧毁的那天晚上在户外，说她的舌头仍然感觉到烫伤，她已经两天看到大便中有血了。
So far, most of the anger has been directed at the Norfolk Southern Railway Company, which was publicly criticized by elected officials. Mike DeWine, governor of Ohio and Republican, said that Norfolk Southern was not required to notify local officials before the train passed because of the classification of the train, which was "ridiculous". He called on Congress to take action and threatened to take legal action if the company failed to pay the cleaning costs.
到目前为止，大多数愤怒都指向诺福克南方铁路公司，民选官员公开指责这家铁路公司。俄亥俄州州长、共和党人迈克·德文（Mike DeWine）称，诺福克南方铁路公司（Norfolk Southern）因为列车的分类而没有被要求在列车通过之前通知当地官员，这是“荒谬的”，他呼吁国会采取行动，并威胁如果该公司未能支付清理费用，将采取法律行动。
Josh Shapiro, the governor and Democrat of Pennsylvania, condemned the "poor handling" of the derailment by Norfolk Southern in an open letter, and accused "giving priority to an accelerated and arbitrary timetable to reopen the railway line, which would bring unnecessary risks and cause chaos in the process."
宾夕法尼亚州州长、民主党人乔什·夏皮罗（Josh Shapiro）在一封公开信中谴责诺福克南方铁路公司（Norfolk Southern）对脱轨事件的“处理不力”，指责“优先考虑一个加速和任意的时间表，以重新开放铁路线，这会带来不必要的风险，并在过程中造成混乱。”
