(The Baltimore Sun posted the following story by Stephen Kiehl on its website on July 2.)
BALTIMORE — A federal report released yesterday on a train derailment and fire in the Howard Street Tunnel two years ago describes “chronic water infiltration” in the tunnel that loosened bricks and mortar and could have contributed to the crash.
The report was among 260 documents and transcribed interviews about the crash that were released yesterday by the National Transportation Safety Board. The report does not offer conclusions or analysis, but it makes it clear that water in the tunnel was a concern well before the derailment on July 18, 2001.
“There is normally water inside the tunnel,” E.L. Brown, conductor of the freight train that derailed, said in an interview with the NTSB. “So, it is like an everyday thing to see water inside the tunnel.”
Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley released a statement yesterday saying the city “steadfastly maintains that it was in no way responsible for this event.” The mayor noted the city spent $3.8 million fighting the fire and repairing a water main break above the tunnel, and that CSX has reimbursed the city $373,572.
“If there’s any way possible not to put any blame on anyone but to get some financial relief, the city would appreciate that,” said city Fire Chief William Goodwin. He said it was unlikely that water entering the tunnel could have caused the crash, noting the track was inspected one day before the derailment and no problems were found.
But CSX has taken a starkly different position. In several letters to the NTSB over the last year, the railroad company says a “sudden and unexpected intrusion into the tunnel of water and debris/sand” probably caused the derailment. Eleven cars of the 60-car train — including tankers containing toxic acids — came off their tracks.
“It is our position that a water leak occurred prior to the derailment,” CSX wrote to the safety board last year. “Water pressure built up behind the tunnel wall, ultimately resulting in a catastrophic break in which water burst into the main tunnel.”
To counter that claim, the city pointed to documents released yesterday that show the water elevation in its reservoirs was steady for three hours after the 3:07 p.m. derailment. Then, about 6:25 p.m., the water level in Druid Hill Lake dropped 2 1/2 feet — the result, the city suggested, of the water main break above the tunnel.
Water entering the tunnel could cause several problems — compromising the integrity of the bricks and mortar in the ceiling, accelerating the corrosion of the train tracks and creating instability by water gathering in the rail bed.NTSB investigators found that before the crash, CSX had set up at least one makeshift deflector inside the tunnel to funnel water away from the tracks. And water and sand were still leaking through the tunnel walls months after the crash.
“Investigators observed water, sand and rock flowing through many weep holes in the tunnel wall” during a visit in February last year, according to a report.
In February 2000 — more than a year before the crash — a CSX employee noticed a stream of water shooting 4 feet out of one of the tunnel’s walls. CSX contacted city officials, and the problem was fixed 10 days later, documents show.
It wasn’t the first time CSX had trouble getting the city to respond to leaks in the tunnel. On July 17, 1994, the freight railroad wrote to the city, “Upon a recent inspection, it was noted that water was and has been for some time leaking quite freely through the tunnel ceiling.”
The city requested and received several documents from CSX and a tour of the tunnel, but nothing was done to fix the problem, according to a CSX letter dated Sept. 19, 1994.
“The problems stated on June 17, 1994, still exist and get no better with the passing of time. … If for some reason this tunnel structure would fail, not only would CSX personnel, property and equipment be endangered, but the infrastructure located above could be directly compromised.”
A spokesman for the city’s Department of Public Works, Kurt Kocher, declined to comment yesterday on water infiltration problems in the tunnel. He said the NTSB has advised the city not to discuss the investigation until it is completed.
The safety board’s final report is not expected for at least three months. It is possible it will not make any conclusions on the cause of the fire and derailment. Goodwin was not optimistic officials would get a final answer. “The fire burned extensively for four days, hindering the investigative powers of the NTSB, extensive as they are,” he said.