http://www.boston.com/dailynews/205/nation/Feds_review_Baltimore_records_:.shtml

Feds review Baltimore records: Did water main derail train?

By Paul Payne, Associated Press, 7/24/2001 16:39

BALTIMORE (AP) Federal investigators pored over city records and examined a century-old cast-iron pipe Tuesday to determine whether the derailment and fire that paralyzed Baltimore was caused by a burst water main.

City engineers have said all along that it was the train wreck that caused the water main to break.

The question of which came first will determine whether the city or the CSX freight railroad is responsible for paying for the damage, the cleanup, overtime for police and firefighters, and business losses.

''It's clear that there's a lot at stake,'' said Tony White, spokesman for Mayor Martin O'Malley. ''It's premature to say how much, but it's safe to say it's of a very large magnitude.''

The National Transportation Safety Board was reviewing city public works department records to help learn whether water gushing from the broken main damaged the track in the 1½-mile tunnel and caused the 60-car CSX train to derail last Wednesday.

The accident brought much of the city to a standstill, halting all traffic for hours and prompting the postponement of three Baltimore Orioles games as crews tried to deal with an intense fire in the tunnel and a spill of hydrochloric acid.

After the last smoldering rail car was dragged out on Monday, inspectors went through the tunnel. The inspection did not uncover any obvious pre-existing defects in the rails or in the freight cars, The Washington Post reported Tuesday, citing unidentified sources.

However, a bulge in the tunnel's brick wall was found along with sections of track that had been swept over by an unusual amount of sand and gravel, apparently by running water, the newspaper said.

The NTSB on Monday requested city records on the water main, and White said the city complied immediately. The agency confirmed that the city has been cooperating. The NTSB had prepared a subpoena, but it was not served.

''It was just a precautionary measure we do with all investigations,'' NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway said. ''All investigative material requested from city has been given to us.''

The NTSB sent a pipeline specialist and a metallurgist to examine the century-old, 40-inch, cast-iron water main that lies directly atop the tunnel ceiling.

Tempers flared Tuesday when an NTSB manager stopped city repair crews from cutting a piece of the water line.

''These guys are wound up like springs waiting to get in there,'' public works spokesman Bob Murrow said. ''It was real easy in the beginning, everyone was cooperating. Now there's all this finger-pointing and talk of litigation.''

Murrow said of the water main: ''I have no knowledge of any problems with that pipe.''

-- Anonymous, July 24, 2001