MARC train commuters on the Brunswick line will experience major service delays Tuesday, as railroad crews clear the aftermath of Sunday’s CSX freight train derailment in Northeast Washington.
Three trains will run in the morning and three in the evening. Maryland Transportation Administration officials said riders should expect the same commuting experience as Monday’s.
“These three trains will likely be very crowded,” MTA said Monday evening.
All three morning trains will make all stops and terminate at Silver Spring, and the three evening trains will originate at the Silver Spring station.
Sixteen railcars jumped the tracks Sunday morning near the Rhode Island Avenue Metro station, causing chemical leaks from three of the cargo containers. Federal rail regulators and CSX are trying to determine the cause of the derailment. No injuries were reported in the accident.
“It would be premature for us to speculate about what the cause might be until the [Federal Railroad Administration] completes its investigation,” CSX spokesman Rob Doolittle said Monday.
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According to Federal Railroad Administration spokesman Matthew Lehner, one of leaking railcars spilled sodium hydroxide, commonly known as lye, a solvent used to make soap and detergents. That car’s leak was repaired on the scene Sunday. Another cargo car carrying ethanol sprang a minor leak that was patched quickly.
A third car carrying non-hazardous calcium chloride, a water soluble compound commonly used de-ice roads, had a minor leak that also was quickly patched and sealed, Mr. Lehner said.
The cars carrying sodium hydroxide and ethanol were offloaded Monday as CSX prepared to remove them from the site. As of Monday afternoon, three cars needed to be moved out of the area, Mr. Lehner said.
The federal railroad spokesman noted that the derailment occurred close to the Rhode Island Avenue subway, but said no freight cars made contact with Metro tracks or the station during the accident. Fire and rail officials determined Sunday that the chemical spills did not require an evacuation of the area.
CSX, which is based in Jacksonville, Florida, did not say how long the cleanup will last. But D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, who visited the derailment site Monday afternoon, said CSX officials told her that transportation on the track will be restored this week, likely by Tuesday evening.
The railroad freight company said it was removing any soil that may have been in contact with sodium hydroxide and replacing it with clean fill. That will involve removing some of the tracks in the area, excavating and replacing soil with clean material, then rebuilding the tracks.
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“CSX is completing this work in compliance with all applicable federal and local regulations, and we appreciate the continued support of D.C. firefighters and police officers in responding to this incident and taking steps to ensure the public’s safety throughout,” said Mr. Doolittle, the company spokesman.
Though the spill hasn’t wreaked any environmental havoc, Jon Kenney, an environmental expert with the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, said the aftermath could have been a lot worse if the cargo cars had been carrying more dangerous chemicals when they derailed.
“I shudder to think of the consequences if it had been crude oil in the train cars instead of relatively less explosive sodium hydroxide,” Mr. Kenney said. “CSX claims it rarely transports highly explosive crude oil through the District, but we have no way of knowing for sure.”
Mr. Doolittle said it is rare for the company to haul crude oil through the area where the derailment occurred, though he did not provide any statistics.
“An explosion could shoot a fireball hundreds of feet in the air, like it did in Lynchburg, Virginia, in 2014, setting the James River on fire for hours, or in Lac-Megantic, Quebec in 2013, tragically killing 47 people,” Mr. Kenney said.
He said there’s only one way to ensure a crude oil accident doesn’t happen: “Ban oil trains, because there’s no safe way to transport crude oil through neighborhoods like the one affected by Sunday’s derailment,” he said.
Business for CSX also was affected by the derailment. Mr. Doolittle didn’t give a dollar figure for the damage and delays, but said the company has advised customers whose freight is transported through the derailment area to expect eight- to 24-hour delays. CSX was also able to reroute some shipments.
• Ryan M. McDermott can be reached at rmcdermott@washingtontimes.com.
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