Curtis Bay residents file lawsuit against CSX over negligence from 2021 explosion
BALTIMORE -- Residents in Baltimore's Curtis Bay community filed a class action lawsuit against CSX Transportation, claiming negligence resulted in a health-harming explosion at its facility in 2021.
Residents are seeking $5 million in compensation.
The explosion happened on Dec. 30, 2021, at a coal silo on Benhill Avenue. It shattered windows and damaged homes.
The lawsuit states "knowing, intentional and reckless" conduct by CSX caused the explosion that released "poisonous and carcinogenic chemicals."
CSX has operated out of Curtis Bay for 140 years, said Brian Hammock, the vice president of State Government Affairs for CSX. He said the explosion was caused by a building of methane on the conveyor belt that wasn't being ventilated.
Residents said the air pollution the explosion caused has been around for decades because of the coal plant.
The residents who filed the lawsuit said the lawsuit left them with "potentially lethal levels of coal dust.
Csx Lawsuit by Adam Thompson on Scribd
The CSX Transportation facility in Curtis Bay is used from incoming and outgoing rail services. It has a railyard, a coal transfer yards, railcar offloading infrastructure, pier loading facilities and maintenance and operations buildings.
in late December, 2021, an explosion happened in the North Reclaim Tunnel.
The residents in the lawsuit claim CSX Transportation failed the maintain the facility with care and they "breached that duty by negligently and improperly operating, supervising, and/or maintaining the Curtis Bay Facility in such a manner that proximately caused the release of coal dust and dangerous contaminants that blanketed the Class Area."
The 12-page lawsuit said the negligence resulted in "unreasonable release of coal dust and other dangerous contaminants."
The lawsuit claims CSX failed to adequately control the facility and had inadequate staffing."
"Defendant's intentional and unreasonable operation, maintenance, and staffing of the Curtis Bay Facility caused the release of dangerous and carcinogenic chemicals and noxious odors into the surrounding community and the Class Area," the lawsuit states.
Residents claim because of the explosion, community members suffered "substantial and unreasonable impacts including discomfort so as to be unable to fully and safely use and enjoy their property."
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