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Residents Seek Solution To 'Ticking Time Bomb' Oil Trains In Area

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Dozens of people are raising concerns about the dangers of oil trains traveling through Baltimore.

Over the years, there have been a number of close calls throughout the city.

Many are calling for the city council to lead the charge for this.

They want answers on how many of these trains are traveling through the city, and what's exactly inside them.

Some call these oil trains a ticking time bomb.

The images after derailments look like war zones, and the sounds are horrid.

"It was just mayhem, it was crazy," said one witness.

It's what many fear could soon be a deadly reality for Baltimore.

"I don't know if Baltimore or the United States is ready for anything like that," said Ulysses Archie Jr., an urban farmer in Baltimore.

Since 2013, we've seen a series of explosions with oil trains.

A blast in Rosedale followed a collision of a train with a truck. In North Dakota, 400,000 gallons of oil spilled after a derailment, and in Canada, more than 40 were killed after a crash in downtown.

Nearly a year ago, 13 train cars derailed at the Howard Street Tunnel. Fortunately, none of them spilled, but it was a potential disaster just feet from MICA.

165,000 people in Baltimore live in the blast zone near the tracks these trains travel on.

Many are calling on city leaders to restrict the flow of those coming through the city.

"It endangers our city, in a state that doesn't even approve fracking," said Baltimore City Council member Mary Pat Clarke.

Archie says his kids go to public schools in that zone and he often fears the worst.

"I expect to go pick my kids up from school," Archie said. "There's no guarantee that you would do that with these trains doing this."

Until something is done, they feel every day is a roll of the dice.

"The problem with these oil trains is they are a ticking time bomb," said Brent Bbolin "You never know when a derailment can happen."

Just last week, a number of council members toured south Baltimore neighborhoods that are potentially threatened by oil train traffic.

The same group that assembled Tuesday will meet next week. The hope is to get in front of the city council by August.

Last year, more than 2,000 petitions and handwritten letters from people who live along the blast zone were delivered to city hall.

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