WHITE MARSH, Md. - A CSX cargo train crashed into a trash truck and derailed Tuesday in a Baltimore suburb, and the explosion that followed rattled homes at least a half-mile away and collapsed nearby buildings, setting them on fire, officials and witnesses said.
The train went off the tracks about 2 p.m. in White Marsh, about 10 miles northeast of Baltimore. A hazardous materials team responded, but Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz said at a news conference that no toxic inhalants were released. Officials did not order an evacuation.
By nightfall, the hazmat team had left, meaning there was no more danger posed from the chemicals in the rail cars, Baltimore County police Capt. Bruce Schultz said.
The truck driver, 50-yearold John Alban, was in serious condition Tuesday night, a hospital spokesman said. The two CSX workers aboard the train weren’t hurt.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Railroad Administration were sending teams to investigate the wreck of the 45-car train on its way from Selkirk, N.Y., to Waycross, Ga. It contained a variety of products, from lumber to printing paper.
Police also planned to investigate the circumstances that led to the track collision, but it was not clear what charges the truck driver or anyone would face, if any, Baltimore County spokesman Elise Armacost said.
Late Tuesday evening, Robert Sumwalt of the National Transportation Safety Board said the accident occurred at a private crossing where the only marking was a stop sign. He said it wasn’t clear why the truck was crossing the tracks or whether it was authorized to be there.
Sumwalt said a team of 15 safety board investigators was on the scene and would likely remain there for up to a week.
CSX spokesman Gary Sease said in an e-mail earlier in the day that sodium chlorate, which the Department of Transportation classifies as a hazardous material, was in one of the cars.
Sease said four of the cars believed to have derailed carried terephthalic acid, which is used in the production of plastics and polyester, among other things. He said it is not listed as a hazardous material.
Robert Sumwalt of the safety board said it was the acid that exploded as a result of the derailment. Dale Walston said he lives about a half-mile away from the blast site and that he thought he could smell chemicals after the explosion.
“It shook my house pretty violently and knocked things off the shelves,” he said in an e-mail.
A worker at a nearby Dunkin’ Donuts, Tawan Rai, said he saw a fire and flames by the railroad tracks at first, then felt a thundering blast that sent smoke pouring into the sky.
He also said police apparently had stopped traffic on nearby Pulaski Highway not far from the tracks, and he no longer had any customers at his donut shop.
John Kane, treasurer of Atlantic Tire on nearby Pulaski Highway, said the explosion blew out two large showcase windows and light fixtures in his shop. The highway, also called Route 40, was shut down to the Baltimore city line as well as some side streets in area.
A spokesman for Amtrak said the company’s Northeast corridor passenger service was not affected by the train derailment, which was the third serious one in the U.S. this month.
More than 70 people were injured May 17 when a commuter train derailed in Bridgeport, Conn. The eastbound train from New York City went off the tracks during evening rush hour, came to a stop and was struck about 20 seconds later by a westbound train.
In Rockview, Mo., on Saturday, a cargo train crash injured seven people and destroyed a highway overpass that could take a year to repair, officials said.
In each of the past five years, CSX has reported more than 100 deaths in accidents involving the railroad.
The Federal Railroad Administration said CSX reported 104 deaths in 2012, down from 122 in 2011 and 117 in 2010. The railroad reported 102 deaths in 2009 and 122 in 2008.
The number of derailments on CSX’s network in the eastern United States has been declining steadily since 2008 when it reported 229 derailments. Last year, CSX reported 143 derailments. CSX, based in Jacksonville, Fla., operates more than 21,000 miles of track in 23 eastern states and two Canadian provinces.
CSX shares traded higher Tuesday before the derailment was reported. The shares closed down 20 cents at $25.30. Information for this article was contributed by Kasey Jones, Josh Funk, David Dishneau and Joan Lowy of The Associated Press.
Front Section, Pages 5 on 05/29/2013