Train That Derailed and Fell Into River Was Not Properly Secured, CSX Says

The train that derailed and dumped possibly hundreds of tons of coal into the Anacostia River on Friday is believed to have rolled onto a damaged bridge because an operator failed to secure the brakes properly, CSX Transportation officials said yesterday.

The bridge was under repair and out of service when the unmanned, 89-car freight train rolled onto the span about 3 p.m. in Southeast Washington, officials said in a statement. It coasted more than a quarter-mile before ending up on the bridge, which collapsed under the train's weight.

Many CSX employees "are not working right now while the investigation continues," CSX spokesman Robert Sullivan said. "Any further action would be determined as part of a formal process that is laid out in the collective bargaining agreement."

No one was hurt in the accident, but seven coal cars plunged into the river and at least two more spilled their freight, said Alan Etter, spokesman for the D.C. Fire and Emergency Services Department. Each car can hold as much as 100 tons of coal, but it was unclear whether they were all full. Inspectors have tested the water repeatedly and have found no significant environmental threat from the coal, he said.

But D.C. environmental officials are very concerned about the impact of the clean-up effort, Etter said.

"You've got these really heavy rail cars that have just plunged into the water and into the muck," he said, explaining that decades' worth of pollutants and other harmful materials have settled at the bottom of the river. "When they start to remove these rail cars, it's going to cause this material to wash up and down the river."

CSX and contract crews spent yesterday moving the undamaged cars off the bridge and doing initial cleanup. Barges, cranes and other equipment are expected to begin arriving at the scene today, and crews are expected to begin fishing the cars out of the water tomorrow, Sullivan said.

The bridge was one of two spans owned by CSX that cross the Anacostia near RFK Stadium. The one that collapsed was taken out of service in November 2006 after a routine inspection found structural problems. The second span was closed yesterday as crews repaired damaged caused by the accident.