Off the Rails – CNS Maryland
Off the rails| CNS Maryland
Two and a half years after a derailed train spewed toxic gases across eastern Ohio, none ofthe nation’s largest freight railroads have fulfilled promises to join a voluntary federal close call program designed to reduce rail hazards and prevent accidents.| CNS Maryland
Exposing risk and regulatory gaps in North America's railroad industry.| CNS Maryland
In the United States, railroads answer largely to themselves. They inspect their own sprawling network of tracks and bridges, with little federal oversight and no public access to their inspection records. This visual investigation was produced by Evident Media, in partnership with the Howard Centers for Investigative Journalism.| CNS Maryland
Federal safety investigators and some members of Congress want to expand special safety rules that apply to trains carrying a lot of flammable material to the much larger number of trains carrying smaller amounts, saying the risk to thousands of U.S. communities is far greater than currently known.| CNS Maryland
If you’re interested in learning more about the transportation of hazardous materials through your community, here’s a quick guide to government resources and publicly available information.| CNS Maryland
With no public access to railroad inspection reports, warnings of decay, collapse and environmental spills stay hidden By Lex Doig, Jaehee Kim and Adrian Mancera Cota Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at Arizona State University CORVALLIS, O.R. – The fire burned for nearly nine hours, billowing smoke and scorching the wooden trestles of a nearly…| CNS Maryland
A train derails and releases at least 1,000 gallons of hazardous chemicals in the U.S. about once every two months. Many communities along the rail lines aren’t prepared to keep people safe when it happens.| CNS Maryland
BROWN COUNTY, Ind. – Susan Hengeveld gently untangles a tiny saw-whet owl from the net where he’s trapped. It’s like solving a puzzle, figuring out where he’s holding on with his talons,…| CNS Maryland
The low-lying coastal community of Crisfield, on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, lost a federal grant aimed at preventing flooding and managing sea-level rise, while universities and research institutions across the state face extensive funding cuts. Disappearing, too, are federal incentives to move to clean energy sources — replaced by President Donald Trump’s effort to repeal state…| CNS Maryland
The image of swirling toxic smoke and flames from a spectacular train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, in 2023 has faded. But the serious questions it raised remain. Why have safety recommendations to more tightly regulate trains carrying hazardous materials been ignored? Why does training for emergency responders leave out tens of thousands of firefighters…| CNS Maryland
A bipartisan group of lawmakers is attempting to push Maryland’s Department of Health to restrict the distribution of two veterinary tranquilizers that play a growing role in the state’s overdose crisis.| CNS Maryland
