Railroad to Pay Baltimore $2 Million to Settle Lawsuit over Derailment, Fire

By Jim Greene

Published on February 14, 2006

A CSX train carrying toxic chemicals derailed on July 8, 2001 in a 1.7-mile-long, 100-year-old tunnel running under Howard Street in downtown Baltimore near Camden Yards, home of the Baltimore Orioles baseball team. The resulting fire spread clouds of toxic smoke over the downtown area, causing the evacuation of the ballpark and trapping motorists in stalled traffic for hours as emergency vehicles responded to the fire, which took three days to extinguish.

A water main break at the scene caused flooding and loss of power and communications services to buildings in the area. The city blamed the break on the railroad and the railroad countered that the break caused the accident. Federal investigators criticized both sides for not communicating adequately during the emergency.

The payment by CSX will help defray the city's costs. Neither the railroad nor the city admitted any fault in the settlement.

The tunnel was closed to rail traffic for a week after the crash, affecting rail traffic up and down the Eastern Seaboard. Downtown street traffic was snarled by the recovery efforts.

The suit was filed by the city in July 2004, and the trial was scheduled for March 13.

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