Fire Officials Concerned Over Proposed Railroad Waste Expansion

By Andrew Gorosko

Local fire officials are raising public safety concerns about the Housatonic Railroad Company’s proposal to greatly increase the tonnage of solid waste and expand the types of solid waste that the railroad transfers from heavy trucks onto railcars at its Hawleyville rail terminal for shipment for disposal at out-of-state landfills.

The railroad is seeking approval for shipping via train from its terminal up to 2,000 tons of solid waste daily. Until now, the railroad has handled up to 450 tons of such waste daily. Heavy trucks bring the waste to the rail terminal for reloading onto trains.

Also, the railroad is seeking to expand the types of solid waste that it would ship out from Hawleyville. Until now, the waste shipped out has largely been construction/demolition debris.

In a permit application now under review by the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the railroad seeks to also handle contaminated soils, used casting sand, coal fly ash, dredge spoils, ash from resource recovery plants, sludge ash, treated woods, and scrap tires in the form of crumbed tires, shredded tires, and whole tires. The railroad’s DEP permit application indicates that it wants permission to operate the waste transfer station seven days a week, 24 hours a day.

Fire Marshal Bill Halstead said this week, “I am concerned about the amount of combustibles that would be brought in there…I am very concerned about the [potential] stockpiling of tires there.” Tire fires are notoriously difficult to extinguish, requiring much firefighting foam and water to do so.”

Mr Halstead said that a tire fire could become a “major catastrophe” involving heavy smoke and the possible spread of fire. Plans call for the railroad handling “a very large amount of tires,” he said.

He noted that no public water supply exists at the railroad terminal for firefighting.

The nearest charged fire hydrant is at the intersection of Hawleyville Road and Mt Pleasant Road, he noted. Also, the nearest dry fire hydrants, which used to siphon water from ponds, are located on Old Hawleyville Road and on Pond View Drive.

Consequently, the fire marshal is seeking to have the railroad install two 30,000-gallon underground water storage tanks on its property, so that a 60,000-gallon supply of water would be available there for firefighters in the event of a fire at the waste handling facility.

The best solution for providing firefighting water would be the extension of a public water supply line, plus fire hydrants, along Hawleyville Road, he said.

The town has historically had relatively few fire calls at the rail terminal, he said.

Unlike virtually all local land use proposals, the town government does not have review powers over the railroad’s expanded waste handling proposal.

Until the 2008 Clean Railroads Act was approved by Congress last year, the federal government was the only entity that had regulatory power over railroads’ activities. In Connecticut, the state DEP now has review powers over the health and safety aspects of the railroad’s proposed expansion of its solid waste handling. Thus, the town has been informing the DEP of its concerns about the railroad’s waste expansion proposal.

Mr Halstead said increased truck traffic in Hawleyville stemming from expanded waste handling could pose traffic problems for emergency vehicles traveling on Hawleyville Road.

Mr Halstead said that increased heavy-truck traffic through the Hawleyville area could impede the Hawleyville Volunteer Fire Company’s travel to emergencies.

If a big pile of debris were to ignite at the railroad terminal, it would require that multiple fire companies respond to the scene, he noted.

“I just think the whole thing’s going to be a big aggravation for that area,” he said of the railroad’s waste expansion plans. “I have a big concern about what’s going to happen over there,” he said.

The fire marshal stressed that the town does not have its normal land use review powers over the railroad’s waste proposal. It would be a better situation if the town had its normal controls over such a development proposal, he said.

Mr Halstead said he has been conferring with town Land Use Agency Director George Benson on the waste expansion proposal.

Kevin Cragin, who is the chairman of the Board of Fire Commissioners, said that in the past, when the rail terminal had much truck traffic, problems sometime occurred with truckers parking their large trucks on the common driveway that serves both the Hawleyville Firehouse and the railroad terminal, creating possible blockages for the travel of fire trucks.

Fire officials then worked out a solution that resolved the problem, he said. If such a problem were to occur again, it would need to be resolved, he said.

The Board of Fire Commissioners has not yet addressed the railroad’s waste-handling expansion in terms of its effects on Hawleyville firefighters, he said.

Hawleyville Fire Chief Joe Farrell said there is concern among firefighters about the railroad’s waste proposal. Those concerns include the potential increased use of the deteriorated common driveway by the railroad, he said.

Also, there is the potential for conflicts between railroad-based heavy-truck traffic and the travel of fire trucks to emergencies, he said. Firefighters are considering what effects that heavy-truck traffic might have on their emergency responses to incidents, he said.

Hawleyville Volunteer Fire Company President Cliff Beers said increased heavy-truck traffic on the common driveway could cause congestion problems there.

Mr Beers said that trucks arriving at the railroad’s waste complex would not only come from nearby Exit 9 of Interstate 84, but also from other directions.

“There’s going to be a lot of congestion on Route 25 [Hawleyville Road],” he said. “I can visualize an emergency vehicle getting tied up in traffic” while on its way to a motor vehicle accident on I-84 or to a fire, he said.

Mr Beers stressed that there is no traffic signal at the point where the common driveway intersects with Hawleyville Road. A traffic signal should be installed there, he said.

“[The trucks are] going to create a lot of dust” on the potholed common driveway, he said, noting that there are residences in the area.

“This will change Newtown,” he said of the railroad’s waste expansion proposal.

“We are concerned about the railroad’s solid waste project and the impact it will have on Hawleyville and the environment,” he said, noting the presence of an aquifer in the area.

“We’re concerned about traffic and the possible adverse effect on the response of emergency vehicles,” he said.

Also, increased truck traffic would increase flying dust in the area, posing health problems for people living in the area, he said.