(The Marietta Times posted the following article on its website on December 20.)
MARIETTA, Ohio — State and federal railroad inspectors have ruled out a faulty bridge as the cause of Monday morning’s derailment of eight coal-filled rail cars on Virginia Street just outside Marietta.
The preliminary findings back up a July 6 routine inspection by CSX Transportation, Inc., of Jacksonville, Fla., that found no concern over the bridge’s safety. Officials have yet to determine what caused the rail cars to leave their tracks.
An official with CSX would not confirmthe findings and said it would still be a few weeks before their own investigation into the accident is complete.
“I can’t comment until our investigation is complete,” said Kim Skorniak, spokeswoman with CSX.
State and federal railroad officials said it also may be some time before they know what caused the derailment, but the Federal Railroad Administration and the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio’s transportation department both confirmed their inspectors found Tuesday in brief, preliminary reports that the accident was not caused by a bridge failure.