(The following article by Philip Rucker was posted on the Washington Post website on April 5.)
WASHINGTON — Freight trains, including those carrying hazardous materials, could be rerouted from the District to Prince George’s and Charles counties under proposed alternatives to be presented today by the National Capital Planning Commission.
Trains carrying hazardous materials travel along the Interstate 95 corridor and pass through downtown, close to the Mall and U.S. Capitol. For the past few years, D.C. and federal officials have argued that this traffic poses a security risk to the nation’s capital.
Three alternative routes — two that would go through Maryland and a third that would pass through a secure underground tunnel in the District — are detailed in a feasibility study the commission will release this morning. A draft of the study was obtained yesterday by The Washington Post.
Maryland officials said they oppose the two suggested routes that would carry an estimated 30 freight trains per day through Bowie, Upper Marlboro, Waldorf and La Plata.
“What their proposal does is to take what they consider to be dangerous cargo and the risk of terrorist attack and shift it to Maryland,” said Del. Murray D. Levy (D), chairman of the Charles delegation. “They just move it to our neighborhood.”
The commission, a regional planning agency, does not have jurisdiction over the route and conducted the study at the request of the D.C. Department of Transportation.
Any decision on the study would be made by the federal government, said commission planning director William G. Dowd.
The proposals would cost $4.3 billion to $5.3 billion. The report does not state whether public funds, private funds or a combination would pay for the routes, Dowd said.
CSX Transportation Inc., the Jacksonville, Fla.-based rail giant, owns and operates the existing lines in the District and suburban Maryland. The company would not comment on the proposals other than to say it is aware of the study and cooperated fully with the commission, company spokesman Robert Sullivan said.
CSX still carries hazardous materials through the city, but in 2004, the company began rerouting its most hazardous cargo. “That situation has not changed,” Sullivan said, declining to provide further details about cargo traffic.
The company moves about 8,500 chemical-laden cars a year through the city. Some of these cars carry toxic materials, such as chlorine.
The most expensive alternative in the study calls for building a secure eight-mile underground tunnel through the District from Potomac Yard to the Maryland border.
Under the other plans, train traffic would be routed through Prince George’s and Charles counties, requiring the construction of tracks on some portions of the route as well as tunnel or bridge crossings of the Potomac River.
Maryland Transportation Secretary John D. Porcari said the routes through his state would be “unacceptable.”
“The bottom line is that alternatives identified in the study impose unacceptable impacts on Maryland,” Porcari said yesterday.
House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.), whose district includes Prince George’s and Charles, is calling for “extensive further examination” of the proposals.
“While I remain supportive of efforts to secure the national capital region by reducing the threats posed by hazardous cargo, I would be strongly opposed to any plan that would only shift the potential risk to other parts of the region,” Hoyer said.
Prince George’s County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) has a “great deal of concern” about the plans, said Michael Herman, his chief of staff.
“This is about making Prince George’s County a dumping ground, and we’re not interested in playing on those set of rules,” Herman said.
The state legislative delegations and county officials from Prince George’s and Charles, who were briefed on the proposals last week, have voiced security concerns.
Maryland officials also are concerned about the effect on traffic in fast-growing portions of both counties.
Virginia transportation officials said yesterday that they do not prefer any one alternative. Under all three alternatives, freight trains would run through Virginia.
D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) has not decided which alternative he supports, spokeswoman Mafara Hobson said.
“We believe the NCPC’s recommendations will further prove that a measure must be put in place to protect residents and visitors of the District of Columbia from a potentially harmful incident,” Hobson said.
In 2005, the D.C. Council passed emergency legislation banning shipments of hazardous materials through the city, the first law in the nation to halt such cargo in response to the threat of terrorism. CSX challenged the law in court, arguing that it usurped the federal government’s authority to regulate railroads and violated the Constitution’s protection of interstate commerce.
The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled later that year in CSX’s favor, blocking enforcement of the D.C. law.
Council member Carol Schwartz (R-At Large), who cast the lone vote against the law, said she supports the NCPC’s proposals.
“I’ve always felt that this hazardous material should be rerouted,” Schwartz said. “We are, as the nation’s capital, obviously a target, and therefore we feel that national security owes it to us to make sure that we’re protected.”