Railroad company CSX and Florida State College at Jacksonville broke ground Aug. 4 on a hazardous materials training facility at FSCJ’s Fire Academy of the South.
CSX is investing $1.5 million in the CSX Hazardous Materials Training Institute. Construction should be complete by January and training classes are expected to begin in early 2026.
“This facility will be an invaluable resource for training first responders to handle hazardous materials incidents effectively,” CSX President and CEO Joe Hinrichs said an Aug. 4 news release.
“Our partnership with FSCJ reflects our broader commitment to delivering safe and reliable operations while creating value and opportunity in the communities in which we live and work.”
CSX said staff at the center will train first responders, emergency managers and industry professionals to handle rail-related hazardous materials incidents through live exercises and classroom instruction.
Students will gain experience with containment, response and coordination using general and pressure service tank cars and highway cargo tank trucks.
The facility will be built on 3.64 acres of FSCJ-owned property at 2700 Fire Fighter Memorial Drive. The site is south of the college’s Fire Academy of the South on FSCJ’s South Campus along Beach Boulevard.
Training there ranges from basic skills to advanced education and technical training, including shipboard and aircraft rescue firefighting.
“FSCJ is proud to strengthen our ongoing partnership with CSX through the development of this state-of-the-art facility dedicated to railroad emergency response training,” said FSCJ President John Avendano in the release.
“FSCJ is dedicated to supporting critical needs for advanced emergency management education, which we know contributes to our region’s vitality.”
Work underway
The city issued a permit July 29 for site clearing and to build railroad tracks on the site. Cranemasters is the contractor for the $358,840 project.
Cranemasters, based in North Chesterfield, Virginia, provides railroad emergency and construction services.
Infrastructure consultants Arcadis of Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Arcadis US of Hanover, Maryland, are associated with the project.
Enviro Science Inc. of Plant City is an environmental consultant.
Arcadis applied to the St. Johns River Water Management District in April on behalf of FSCJ to modify 3.64 acres to accommodate three rows of railroad tracks that are 400 feet in length.
The district issued a letter June 18, 2025, modifying the permit for site improvements to include the three rows of railroad tracks; one row of 120 feet of track at the northeast entrance of a roundabout; access paths; installation of grates; relocation of a highway cargo tank, propane tank and compressed gas; and more. The area will be covered with ballast.
All railroad tracks will be installed with the standards of CSX Transportation Inc., the operating railroad part of the business.
Editor at Large Karen Brune Mathis contributed to this report.