However, a closer look at the situation reveals that the United States government is actually the responsible party.

You see, freight rail companies in the U.S. are forced by the government to transport dangerous chemicals like vinyl chloride – even when they would otherwise reject these loads. They call these types of freight loads Toxic Inhalation Hazard, or TIH, chemicals, which include chlorine and ammonia.

Union Pacific (UP), a competitor of NS, released the following statement, which explains in further detail how rail companies have no say in the matter of what they transport:

"Under the common carrier obligation, the federal government requires railroads to transport hazmat, whether they want to or not. Trucks and barges do not have this same obligation and may refuse to carry hazmat at their discretion. Union Pacific does not make Toxic Inhalation Hazard materials, own the tank cars that move TIH or decide the origin or destination to which it is shipped. However, the common carrier obligation requires Union Pacific to transport TIH."

Truth be told, UP and NS would more than likely never say no to transporting these chemicals in the first place because to do so would be to turn down profits. But this caveat in the law allows rail companies to avoid taking responsibility when things go wrong because the government made me do it.

"The railroads just want somebody to blame. And so does the federal government," writes Jon Rappoport on his Substack. "And so do the chemical companies who manufacture the poisons and want them transported."