No injuries, leakage reported from derailed train in city
11/24/2007 in Industry News
By Tyeesha Dixon - Baltimore Sun
2:30 PM EST, November 24, 2007
A train carrying a potentially hazardous chemical derailed near M&T Bank Stadium this morning, prompting authorities to close northbound Russell Street and other streets within a half-mile radius, fire officials said.
Leadenhall, Stockholm and Hamburg streets were also closed, Baltimore City Fire Capt. Roman Clark said. They were reopened this afternoon but could be closed again as crews try to remove the derailed cars.
The mishap, which left 12 of the train's 31 cars derailed, happened about 8 a.m. today near the 300 block of Stockholm St. -- just blocks from the scene of the 2001 Howard Street Tunnel fire that disrupted freight rail traffic along the entire East Coast.
The train that derailed today was traveling from Philadelphia to Rocky Mount, N.C., said CSX spokesman Bob Sullivan.
Two of the cars contained a flammable resin solution, Sullivan said. Another of the cars previously contained the chemical tetrachloroethylene, a colorless, non-flammable liquid that is often used for dry-cleaning and metal degreasing, Sullivan said.
There have been no reports of injuries or leaks or spills, Clark said. No residents were evacuated from a nearby residential neighborhood. Authorities have begun moving wreckage from the derailment.
Several hours after the derailment, a pile of cars remained off the tracks near the point where a bridge carries Ostend Street over the CSX tracks. Two other cars were off the tracks where Interstate 395 passes over Stockholm Street just south of the football stadium near the Camden Industrial Park.
Clark said that from the time shortly after the derailment until about noon, the following roadways, in a half-mile radius of the scene, were closed: westbound, Leadenhall Street; southbound, Stockholm Street; northbound, Hamburg Street; and eastbound Russell Street. He said the portion of Interstate 395 that leads into Interstate 95 was also closed for the first one to two hours.
CSX officials will investigate this morning's accident, Clark said. CSX hopes to have the train back on the rails by tomorrow morning, Sullivan said.
The derailment comes more than six years after a July 2001 incident in which 11 freight cars--including those carrying toxic chemicals--derailed in the 1.7-mile Howard Street Tunnel. One of the cars, which was carrying the flammable chemical triproylene, caught fire, forcing the evacuation of nearby Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
More than four years after the derailment, CSX Transportation Inc. agreed to pay Baltimore $2 million in an out-of-court settlement.
In response to the 2001 fire, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, a Democrat, wrote part of a railroad safety act that would require railroads to inform local authorities of hazardous materials carried through tunnels. The House of Representatives passed the bill last month.
"We're fortunate that this wasn't a more serious incident," said Mayor Sheila Dixon's spokesman, Sterling Clifford. "The response of the fire department and all our first responders was good, and it shows they have the mechanisms in place to handle an incident like this."
Sun reporter Peter Hermann and The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Copyright (c) 2007, The Baltimore Sun
