(The Associated Press circulated the following article on January 5.)
BALTIMORE — Poor record keeping coupled with a lack of communication worsened a dangerous situation triggered by the 2001 derailment of a freight train underneath the city’s central business district, the National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday.
Eleven cars of a 60-car train — including tankers containing toxic acids — derailed inside the Howard Street tunnel, causing a fire in a punctured tanker loaded with tripropylene. Around that time, a water main directly above the tunnel ruptured, sending water into the tunnel, collapsing several city streets and flooding buildings.
The damage shut down Baltimore for days in July 2001, postponing baseball games, causing millions of dollars in damage to businesses and forcing the city to pay overtime for emergency crews and cleanup.
In its safety recommendations to the city and CSX Corp., the NTSB suggested better exchange of information on maintenance and construction information in and around the tunnel, and asked the city and railroad to respond within 90 days on how they intend to address the issues.
The letters only touched on the suspected cause of the accident, which is the subject of litigation. Baltimore has sued CSX, seeking $10 million for fighting the five-day fire and repairing the water main.
In letters to Baltimore and CSX, the NTSB said although it could not determine the cause of the accident, “the most likely scenario that could have resulted in the derailment involved an obstruction between a car wheel and the rail, in combination with changes in track geometry.”
But the letters also pointed to lack of critical information from both the city and railroad concerning the tunnel. The report added that the city lacks emergency procedures for dealing with hazardous materials discharged in the tunnel.
City Solicitor Ralph S. Tyler said of the NTSB’s comments, “Overall, these are important and helpful in the city’s litigation against CSX.”
But CSX spokesman Robert Sullivan said “the derailment was caused by events beyond the control of the railroad.”