Opinion: City, state leaders must push for answers on CSX coal silo explosion in Baltimore

On Dec. 30 last year, a fire and explosion at South Baltimore’s CSX Curtis Bay Coal Piers shook homes in the neighboring community and sent a cloud of toxic dust across Curtis Avenue, choking residents unfortunate enough to be outdoors at the time. The massive silo explosion, which shut down operations at the country’s second-largest coal export piers, was heard three miles away in Anne Arundel County. Environmental disasters and toxic air emanating from dirty waterfront industries are nothing new in Curtis Bay. Neither are city and state officials lacking transparency and formal processes in their response.