(The Associated Press circulated the following article on April 6.)
BALTIMORE — The city has requested an additional week to respond to a federal report on the train derailment in the Howard Street tunnel in 2001, a city official said Tuesday.
The National Transportation Safety Board made safety recommendations on Jan. 5 to Baltimore and CSX Corp., including better exchange of information on maintenance and construction information in and around the tunnel. The city and CSX were asked to respond to the issues raised within 90 days.
Donald Huskey, deputy city solicitor, sent a letter Tuesday to NTSB chairwoman Ellen Engelman Conners requesting another week to respond.
“We will provide the City of Baltimore’s response by April 12, 2005 and appreciate your agency’s recommendations to prevent accidents and save lives in Baltimore City,” the letter said.
On July 18, 2001, 11 cars of a 60-car train, including tankers containing toxic acids, derailed inside the tunnel that runs under the city’s central business district.
A tanker carrying tripropylene was punctured and the chemical caught fire. Around that same time, a 40-inch water main directly above the tunnel ruptured, sending water into the tunnel, collapsing several city streets and flooding nearby buildings.
The damage shut down the city for days.