The National Transportation Board’s investigation of a fatal crash of an Amtrak train and a backhoe showed the two track workers killed and the locomotive engineer had traces of drugs, the Washington Post reported.
However, there was no evidence that drugs contributed to the crash near Chester, PA., according to the Post.
It has long been suspected that communications problems contributed to the backhoe being in the path of the oncoming passenger train in early April of 2016. No ruling has been made by the NTSB.
The story came as the NTSB on Thursday released a docket of testimony and other information related to the crash that claimed the lives of Joseph Carter Jr., of Wilmington, the backhoe operator and Peter Adamovich, a supervisor.
The Post reported that Carter had cocaine in his system while Adamovich had Oxycodone. The Wall Street Journal reported morphine was also present.
The train’s engineer Alexander Hunter had trace amounts of marijuana in his bloodstream, according to a report in the docket.
Engineers are barred from using marijuana and other drugs at Amtrak, with the ban extended to other workers, including those repairing track, the Journal reported.
According to the Journal, a letter to employees from Amtrak’s president stated that there was not evidence that drugs played a role in the accident, but added that any positive drug test is unacceptable.
Amtrak media relations representative Kimberly Woods declined to release the letter to employees.
However, Woods later released the following:
Drug use in the workplace at Amtrak is unacceptable and is not tolerated. The public places a trust in us to provide safe and reliable transportation. Safety is our highest priority – for our passengers and our employees – and we are committed to operating our nationwide network of services safely, effectively and efficiently. Amtrak tests our employees at twice the rate of federal guidelines. We also offer our employees supportive resources such as Amtrak’s Employee Assistance Program and Operation Red Block, a peer intervention program.
While we have a comprehensive drug testing program, we are working to make it better. One employee testing positive for drugs or alcohol is too many. We have reviewed our program and have taken proactive measures to make even stronger protocols including additional employee education, enhanced rehabilitation and more clearly defined consequences for violations.
We are proud of the dedicated, professional men and women that are part of the Amtrak workforce, operating our nationwide network of trains 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and are committed to getting better.
Amtrak will continue to work closely with the Department of Transportation, the NTSB, and our union partners to strengthen our drug and alcohol testing program. We resolve to explore every program and resource available toward our goal of an every shift, every day and every week, month and year drug-free workforce and workplace.
