HYATTSVILLE, Md. — The city of Hyattsville and CSX have reached a $310,000 settlement agreement over costs stemming from a 2023 derailment that spilled plastic pellets in the community, the Hyattsville Life & Times reports.
A locomotive and 16 cars derailed in the Sept. 23, 2023, incident near the intersection of U.S. Route 1 and Decatur Street. No one was injured and no hazardous materials were involved, but the city sought reimbursement for personnel expenses and roadway damage resulting from the incident. It placed the cost of cost of roadway repairs at approximately $267,000, with $43,000 for personnel costs.
CSX confirmed the settlement in an email statement to the newspaper but otherwise declined comment.
“We were deliberate to go after what the city actually lost,” Reggie Bagley, Hyattsville emergency operations manager, told the newspaper.
At least one city council member and some residents felt the settlement was insufficient.
“It does seem rather low that we only spent $300,000 considering all the time and effort that went into this,” council member Joanne Waszczak said at an Oct. 21 meeting when the council voted to accept the agreement. A resident said the amount was “way, way, way, way, way too little to compensate for the level of environmental injustice that company has done to our community.”
City administrator Tracey Douglas said the city chose to negotiate a settlement agreement rather than go to court because some of the road repairs still need to be completed.
“When we look up other communities that are in litigation with CSX, it’s taken years,” Douglas told the council meeting. “We’ve got to get that road repaired.”
Hyattsville is about 6.5 miles northeast of central Washington, D.C.
