CSX Rail Cars in Mayfield

On Tuesday, February 23, 2021, Fredericksburg City Council unanimously passed Resolution 21-14 "Objecting to Storage of Rail Tanker Cars with Hazardous Materials in the City of Fredericksburg, and Demand CSX Discontinue the Practice Now."

The City of Fredericksburg has been served by passenger and freight traffic on rail lines owned and operated by CSX or its predecessors for many years. CSX also maintains a rail yard in the Mayfield neighborhood of the City. The City has endeavored to be a good partner to CSX whenever issues arise associated with the presence of rail lines and operations in the City.

The storage of rail tanker cars, with hazardous and flammable contents for unspecified periods of time, in close proximity to homes on Railroad Avenue, has been an issue of serious concern to the City and the residents of the Mayfield neighborhood in recent years. Much of the last decade was spent advancing persistent demands by the City that this potentially hazardous situation be addressed by CSX. With the involvement and support of the Commonwealth of Virginia, CSX finally constructed a storage rail spur at a further distance from homes.

However, the practice of storing tanker cars on the main line along Railroad Avenue, with unknown contents and for unspecified periods of time, has resumed. In February 2021 City Council resolved the following:

It re-states and confirms its position that the practice of parking tanker rail cars with hazardous contents and for unknown duration in the vicinity of the Railroad Avenue residential area creates serious and legitimate safety concerns for nearby residents, the residents of the larger Mayfield neighborhood and the City as a whole;
The Council thus confirms its previous strong opposition to this practice;
And, the Council demands that CSX immediately discontinue prolonged storage of all tanker cars with hazardous materials along Railroad Avenue, and asks that they come to detail their plan to the community near-term.

In an effort to ensure transparent communications on the activities that the City and others are undertaking we have published a timeline of efforts:

City of Fredericksburg - CSX Tanker Issues 2021 - updated March 15, 2021 (PDF)

City of Fredericksburg - CSX Tanker Actions 2021 - updated December 2021

City of Fredericksburg - CSX Tanker Actions 2023 - updated July 2023

Monthly Updates

Members of City Council, City Staff, and CSX representatives continue to meet, engage, and work together in order to educate, inform, and provide solutions where possible to address neighboring community issues and needs. The impacts of having a rail provider as a neighbor impacts all City residents. The City is committed to continued engagement with CSX on impacts and issues as work to address concerns, focus on safety, and improve the relationship between businesses and the communities they impact in Fredericksburg.

The City asked that CSX offer a written update to the community monthly moving forward and the updates are available below.

On May 9, 2023 Randy Marcus - Director of State Relations for VA, WV & DC for CSX gave an update presentation at the City Council Regular Meeting.

The City of Fredericksburg appreciates the increased communication and the willingness of CSX to listen to concerns, but we continue to object strongly to the stacking of hazardous materials in our community. Fredericksburg’s Fire Department continues to monitor daily activity and is reporting weekly to City Management on hazardous tanker car counts on site. Additionally, the City has access to video footage of the train yard as an additional means to review activity on the rails adjacent to Mayfield.

Counts by weekly total for propane (LPG) in the rail yard are as follows:

2/26/21 23
3/5/21 30
3/11/21 42
3/19/21 85
3/26/21 60
4/1/21 20
4/8/21 39
4/15/21 15
4/23/21 43
4/30/21 54
5/6/21 30
5/14/21 31
5/21/21 15
5/28/21 81
6/4/21 13
6/11/21 34
6/17/21 20
6/25/21 52
7/2/21 34
7/9/21 28
7/16/21 66
7/23/21 42
7/30/21 16
8/6/21 29
8/13/21 34
8/20/21 28
8/27/21 44
9/3/21 18
9/10/21 48
9/17/21 93
9/24/21 57
10/1/21 35
10/8/21 29
10/15/21 28
10/22/21 38
10/29/21 41
11/5/21 45
11/12/21 81
11/24/21 74
12/3/21 95
12/10/21 72
12/17/21 110
1/7/22 168
1/14/22 107
1/7/22 LPG Loaded 87 - Empty 81
1/14/22 LPB Loaded 53 - Empty 54
1/21/22 LPG Loaded 39 - Empty 129
1/28/22 LPG Loaded 22- Empty 96
2/4/22 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 78
2/11/22 LPG Loaded 32 - Empty 65
2/18/22 LPG Loaded 32 - Empty 69
2/25/22 LPG Loaded 25 - Empty 59
3/4/22 LPG Loaded 26 - Empty 46
3/11/22 LPG Loaded 34 - Empty 36
3/18/22 LPG Loaded 38 - Empty 34
3/25/22 LPG Loaded 18 - Empty 32
4/1/22 LPG Loaded 10 - Empty 5
4/8/22 LPG Loaded 35 - Empty 10
4/15/22 LPG Loaded 10 - Empty 48
4/22/22 LPG Loaded 61 - Empty 25
4/29/22 LPG Loaded 4 - Empty 18
5/6/22 LPG Loaded 29 - Empty 24
5/13/22 LPG Loaded 13 - Empty 33
5/19/22 LPG Loaded 3 - Empty 27
5/27/22 LPG Loaded 3 - Empty 16
6/3/22 LPG Loaded 3 - Empty 0
6/10/22 LPG Loaded 8 - Empty 18
6/17/22 LPG Loaded 1 - Empty 10
6/24/22 LPG Loaded 14 - Empty 10
7/1/22 LPG Loaded 3 - Empty 6
7/8/22 LPG Loaded 3 - Empty 12
7/15/22 LPG Loaded 3 - Empty 16
7/22/22 LPG Loaded 7 - Empty 29
7/29/22 LPG Loaded 8 - Empty 0
8/5/22 LPG Loaded 6 - Empty 0
8/12/22 LPG Loaded 15- Empty 18
8/19/22 LPG Loaded 38 - Empty 30
8/26/22 LPG Loaded 3 - Empty 8
9/2/22 LPG Loaded 7 - Empty 33
9/9/22 LPG Loaded 3 - Empty 10
9/16/22 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
9/23/22 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
9/30/22 LPG Loaded 1 - Empty 0
10/7/22 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
10/14/22 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 33
10/21/22 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
10/28/22 LPG Loaded 1 - Empty 0
11/4/22 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
11/10/22 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
11/18/22 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
11/23/22 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
12/2/22 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
12/9/22 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
12/16/22 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
12/22/22 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
12/30/22 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
1/6/23 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
1/13/23 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
1/27/23 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
2/3/23 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
2/10/23 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
2/10/23 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
2/17/23 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
2/24/23 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
3/3/23 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
3/10/23 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
3/17/23 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
3/24/23 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
3/31/23 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
4/7/23 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
4/14/23 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
4/21/23 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
4/28/23 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 16
5/5/23 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
5/12/23 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
5/19/23 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
5/26/23 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
6/2/23 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
6/9/23 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
6/16/23 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
6/23/23 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
6/30/23 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
7/7/23 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
7/14/23 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
7/21/23 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
7/28/23 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
8/4/23 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 7
8/11/23 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 3
8/18/23 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
8/25/23 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0
9/1/23 LPG Loaded 0 - Empty 0

The City of Fredericksburg remains steadfast in its opposition to storage (even if less than 48 hours) of this hazardous material in the our community. This report was shared with our federal delegation in a written update. We will continue to pursue federal intervention that leads to alternative storage of hazardous materials further away from residential areas. Please find more information about this important topic at https://www.fredericksburgva.gov/1763/CSX-Rail-Cars-in-Mayfield or by calling 540-372-1010.

The Fire Department worked to update their emergency evacuation plans with CSX, and provided two community engagement meetings in August and September 2021.

A copy of the presentation can be found at Community Evacuation Guide Presentation. Please contact the Fire Department with any questions at 540-372-1059.

A map was developed to assist with evacuation concerns. Know Your Zone Evacuation Map Please contact the Fire Department with any questions at 540-372-1059.

CSX Rail Cars in Mayfield

Monthly Updates

Updates from CSX

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