The Maryland Transportation Authority is heightening its watch over what kinds of materials are passing through Baltimore’s tunnels on trucks since the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in late March.
The loss of the bridge has rerouted trucks to tunnels including The Fort McHenry Tunnel along I-95 and Baltimore Harbor Tunnel along I-895. However, certain hazardous materials are prohibited under Maryland law from entering tunnels due to safety and environmental threats.
Bottled propane gas in quantities over 10 pounds per container, bulk gasoline, flammable liquids, explosives, radioactive and other hazardous gases and solids are on the list of banned items for tunnel passage, according to MDTA. The goal of these restrictions is “to minimize threats to life, property or the environment due to hazmat related incidents,” said MDTA police spokesperson Brady McCormick in an email.
The issue started to draw attention in the Baltimore area back in 2001 when, on July 18, a train carrying flammable liquid derailed in Baltimore’s Howard Street Tunnel and burned for four days underground. The incident led to the late Rep. Elijah Cummings adding requirements to the Federal Railroad Safety Improvement Act of 2007 that local authorities be notified when hazardous materials are coming through tunnels via railroad.
Following the bridge collapse, the authority began partnering with the Maryland State Police, the Maryland Comptroller’s Office and the Maryland Department of the Environment to ramp up inspections of vehicles transporting substances that could fall into the restricted categories. It also contacted local shipping and transportation companies, including those affiliated with the Port of Baltimore, to remind them of tunnel restrictions
So far, the agency police department’s Commercial Vehicle Safety Unit has noted few occurrences of prohibited materials traveling through the tunnels, McCormick said. For those who are found to be breaking the law, the unit has reached out and tried to make companies aware of Maryland’s rules.
However, as the state works to enhance patrols it’s also low on manpower.
MDTA police have 69 sworn vacancies, Lt. Colonel Corey McKenzie, chief of the operations bureau, told officials at an MDTA board meeting Thursday. However, keeping track of the substances passing through the tunnels has become a priority for the department since the collapse, McKenzie said, and the department is encouraging officers to obtain the proper certifications to do the inspections as well as rotating those detailed to other areas through inspections.
It’s also working on GPS technology that could warn trucks with routes planned through tunnels of the hazmat restrictions, McKenzie said. MDTA Executive Director Bruce Gartner added the agency is also attempting to utilize satellite radio to send out alerts to drivers, particularly long-distance truckers unfamiliar with Maryland.
“We want to make sure we do anything we can to make the system safer,” Gartner said.