Of the many reasons CSX has been in the news this week, the most startling is the massive fire in Lynchburg, Va. caused by the derailment of an oil train. A group that opposes the company’s proposed expansion of the Virginia Avenue Tunnel in Southeast D.C. is pointing to the accident as one reason to put the brakes on.

“We are thankful no one was hurt,” DC Safe Rail said in a statement. “Fortunately, the nation dodged another bullet. CSX has the worst safety record when it comes to accidents involving hazardous materials.”

DC Safe Rail has strongly opposed a plan that would expand and widen the 3,800-foot tunnel — which runs from Second Street and Virginia Avenue SE to 11th and M streets SE — to accommodate double-stacked trains. Construction, which could last between three to six years, would possibly have trains carrying crude oil and other hazardous materials through Capitol Hill in an exposed trench on temporary tracks.

“CSX wants to run bigger, faster freight trains — many of which carry hazardous materials including Bakken crude oil — through an open trench inside a complex construction zone on Capitol Hill and the Navy Yard,” DC Safe Rail said. “CSX’s proposal magnifies the risk of an accident, like what we saw today in Lynchburg, happening right here in downtown D.C.”

CSX says the tunnel, which is more than 100 years old, requires a major rehabilitation. Expanding its capacity, the company says, would eliminate a “chokepoint.”

The D.C. Council held a hearing yesterday on a resolution that would ask Congress to hold a public hearing on the proposal, an idea Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton said in a statement she supports.

“The Council is right that a congressional hearing would be appropriate,” Norton said. “Although the CSX tunnel project is privately financed, federal issues also are implicated, as indicated by the involvement of the Federal Highway Administration as the lead federal agency. Moreover, there is a clear federal interest, considering efforts nationwide concerning freight infrastructure. There are several outstanding issues involved with the project that are both local and national, especially concerns such as noise, air quality, and construction near homes and senior housing, that the Environmental Impact Statement is tasked to help resolve.”

Magnitude of the Lac Megantic derailment overlaid on the proposed Virginia Avenue Tunnel.

No one was injured in the Lynchburg incident. In a statement, CSX said they are “cooperating fully with all investigators on site to understand the cause and impact of this incident.” Early today, a CSX freight train carrying about 8,000 tons of coal partially derailed in Bowie, the Baltimore Sun reports.

“D.C. deserves better,” DC Safe Rail said. “Our government — including Mayor Gray, DDOT, and the Council — needs to put a halt to this dangerous proposal unless and until all reasonable alternatives are explored that don’t put D.C. residents in the crosshairs of another major accident.”

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