(The following story by Michael Dresser appeared on the Baltimore Sun website on February 1.)
BALTIMORE, Md. — Spurred by a Nov. 24 derailment near Camden Yards, Maryland and CSX Transportation completed an agreement yesterday under which security officials will be given real-time access to information about hazardous cargoes moving through the state on freight trains.
The agreement “will allow Maryland security and law enforcement officials to independently track the location of [CSX] trains and the contents of rail cars being handled by [CSX] trains across the state,” said a railroad spokesman, Bob Sullivan.
In the past, freight railroads have jealously guarded access to such details as proprietary information. But in recent years — in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks and the Howard Street Tunnel derailment and fire in 2001 — railroads have come under pressure from elected officials to provide notice to first responders when they are hauling potentially dangerous cargo through populated areas such as downtown Baltimore.
A memorandum of understanding signed yesterday by CSX executives and state police Superintendent Terrence B. Sheridan adds Maryland to a list with three other states taking part in an information-sharing pilot project with the giant freight railroad. According to a copy of the agreement obtained by The Sun, the pilot will last six months — after which the railroad and the state will decide on an extension.
Sullivan said Maryland officials would receive information on shipments of chemicals known as toxic inhalation hazards, which include such substances as chlorine. The chemical killed nine people after a derailment of a Norfolk Southern train caused a release of the toxic gas in South Carolina in January 2005.
The agreement with the state was welcomed by Baltimore political leaders, even though they were disappointed that city first responders were not included as a direct party to the agreement.
“It helps statewide, but it still doesn’t help us at the local level,” said Mayor Sheila Dixon. “We have to wait and see.”
U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, one of several Maryland lawmakers who pushed the railroad to share information, expressed dismay that the city was not a direct participant.
“The state will not be the first responders in most instances,” said Cummings, a Baltimore Democrat. “I would much rather see CSX be more open and accommodating to the city — particularly in light of the several derailments that have happened the past few months.”
Since the Nov. 24 derailment of 12 cars — including three carrying hazardous chemicals — just south of the Howard Street Tunnel, there have been at least two smaller derailments on CSX tracks around Baltimore.
Rick Abbruzzese, Gov. Martin O’Malley’s press secretary, said the need for information-sharing was demonstrated during the Howard Street fire, when the city Fire Department did not quickly know which toxic chemicals it was dealing with on the derailed cars. That fire disrupted downtown activities, brought East Coast rail freight traffic to a standstill and led to recriminations and litigation between CSX and the administration of then-Mayor O’Malley that took years to resolve.
Abbruzzese acknowledged there have been tensions between the railroad and his boss.
“They have had their differences in the past, but in this case we were able to come together and work out this agreement that will help first responders around the state,” he said.
While the agreement designates the state police as the contact in dealing with CSX, it gives the department broad authority to share essential information with local police and fire agencies to respond to incidents or anticipate potential security threats. Among other things, it lets the state police superintendent give local police and fire officials access to the law enforcement operations center where the computers linked to the CSX network will be located.
The agreement includes a strongly worded prohibition on the use of CSX proprietary information for purposes other than public safety. But the compact does allow the state police to share CSX information — including the location of toxic shipments — in the event of an actual rail incident or heightened security threat or to help first responders protect the cargo or prepare for major public events near the railroad’s tracks.
Sheridan said the agreement “absolutely” gives the state police the flexibility they need to work with local authorities to plan for toxic shipments.
“We’ll know exactly where it is, what it is and from there the experts will know how to attack the problem,” he said.
Sullivan said the railroad would evaluate whether to give local public safety agencies greater access to the system after the pilot project is completed. He said such projects have been under way since last summer in New York, New Jersey and Kentucky.