HAZMAT Spill on Highway, Media Doesn't Notice

Stumble It!


Early Saturday morning, a truck carrying environmentally hazardous material overturned on a ramp between two interstates and spilled a small amount of liquid, according to one account. Authorities said there was no reason for concern.

Even though the ramp was closed for more than 16 hours while the wreck was cleaned up, the local media hardly said a word about it. One local TV channel reported on their website very briefly. Others, however, have remained oddly silent. In fact, the big story on the front page was Obama's arrival in D.C.

I am in no position to say whether this was a dangerous situation. However, I can say that Baton Rouge is surrounded by chemical plants of all kinds. It is not uncommon to have industrial hazardous material spills in the area. The fact that the media largely remained silent on this one in such a central location is just strange. It leads me to believe that either they didn't know about the spill – doubtful because it happened in a central location and affected thousands of drivers throughout the day – or they decided to keep it quiet for some reason.

My opinion is they chose the latter, and here's why. A few months ago, a dopehead set his car on fire while cooking meth on his engine block as he drove down the interstate. According to reports, he leaked ammonia for more than a mile, which resulted in the interstate being shut down for most of the day while hazmat teams cleaned it up. The media had no problem reporting that incident. So what is the difference? I'm not really sure, but I intend to find out.

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