IWC Issues Dual Decision

In Railroad Wetlands Application

By Andrew Gorosko

In an unusual revision of a controversial wetlands permit application from the Housatonic Railroad Company for its 13.3-acre property at 30 Hawleyville Road (Route 25), the Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) has approved one aspect of the railroad’s application, but denied another feature of it.

Following lengthy review of the railroad’s application during the past several months, IWC members decided on August 11 to approve the portion of the wetlands permit application that would have the railroad remove a large volume of earthen fill from its property, which had been placed there in violation of the wetlands regulations.

The IWC, however, rejected the railroad’s proposal to build some additional railroad track on its site to expand its materials-handling capabilities.

IWC members voted unanimously for the dual action.

The railroad now has the options of complying with the IWC’s action, submitting another application in seeking to gain approval for the railroad track extension, or appealing the IWC’s decision in Danbury Superior Court.

The railroad has proposed that almost four-fifths of the 9,500 cubic yards of fill that was deposited at its rail terminal in 2009, without the required prior approval from the IWC, be removed from the property.

It is that section of the application that the IWC approved. The IWC is requiring that the fill be removed within two years.

However, the IWC rejected the railroad’s proposal to improve its facilities for the handling and temporary storage of construction materials. The railroad receives shipments of building materials by rail, which it temporarily stores for reshipment by truck.

The IWC decided against the track extension because such a project would result in the likelihood of significant environmental damage to wetlands on the railroad property due to insufficient environmental controls. Also, IWC members decided that the proposed track extension could result in damage to wetlands on adjacent property because the plans for the project do not adequately protect such wetlands.

“This was a complex application,” said IWC Chairman Anne Peters.

The railroad has stressed that its application is separate from an earlier request for a wetlands permit for the site submitted by Newtown Transload, LLC, which the IWC rejected last February. Newtown Transload, which is a contractor for the railroad, has appealed that wetlands permit rejection in Danbury Superior Court. The appeal is pending.

The Newtown Transload wetlands permit application was submitted in connection with the railroad’s controversial pending proposal to expand its solid waste handling operations at the terminal. The state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is reviewing that solid waste application.

About five years ago, the railroad entered the solid waste transfer business. The railroad transfers solid waste from heavy trucks onto railcars for shipment by rail to out-of-state landfills.

The railroad’s proposal to increase the range of solid waste and also expand the tonnage of solid waste that it handles has proven controversial, drawing stiff opposition on environmental grounds from town officials and a citizens group known as Hawleyville Environmental Advocacy Team (HEAT).

The concerns include the potential for surface water pollution and groundwater pollution due to expanded waste operations. Other issues include quality-of-life matters, such as increased truck traffic, increased noise, and additional blowing dust in the area.