Environmental Advocacy Team Is ‘Alarmed’ At Railroad Operations

By Kendra Bobowick

On paper and in person Ann Marie Mitchell refreshed her appeal to officials to regularly visit, document, and, if possible, temporarily stop work in progress at the Housatonic Railroad Company’s transfer station in Hawleyville.

“Have you seen the photos?” she asked Conservation Commission members Tuesday evening. Aside from pictures of accumulating debris at the 30 Hawleyville Road location — does it encroach on wetlands and does it contain hazardous waste? — she told the commission, “And the semis, in and out, in again, kicking up dust, starting early, 6:50 am daily … and they’re loud …” Commissioner George Ferguson mentioned possible ordinances against noise, and Ms Mitchell replied, “I think the neighbors would be appreciative; this is how their day starts.”

During a separate conversation she explained a letter she drafted August 8 to First Selectman Joe Borst, “We want [officials] to know what’s going on, so we’re on top of it.” She then asked a question she would later pose at the conservation meeting: “Who is watching? Who is overseeing?”

Preceding her visit to the commission Tuesday, August 11, was the most recent certified letter to the first selectman signed by residents supporting the grassroots group Hawleyville Environmental Advocacy Team (HEAT). Copies went to Governor M. Jodi Rell, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, state and federal officials, Sierra Club representatives, and news media.

Extending her plea to town agencies and beyond and reaching for state and federal officials’ help, she wrote: “We … are alarmed.” The letter reacts to an extension the town Land Use Agency granted the railroad recently to submit information on steps the company would take to environmentally protect wetlands at its 13.3-acre property. (See related story.) As noted in her letter, Ms Mitchell calculates that nearly 800 days have passed since the railroad received its first wetlands violation notice. She worries about the extension “as it pertains to our wetlands and the Pond Brook watershed, our primary water supply for the community.”

She asks about permits from agencies, including the Department of Environmental Protection and Federal Surface Transportation Board, asserting, “it appears no permit has ever been issued … for the current operation.”

Only in the last year approximately, the railroad is required per the Clean Railroads Act of 2008 to submit to the Department of Environmental Protection a permit for the construction and operation of a solid waste facility — which made a narrow opening for local regulator agencies such as Land Use to enter the process. The more than 130-page permit now before the DEP notes potential expansions of buildings at the site, a spike in waste volume passing through the station, and lists materials handled. Strategic Disposal LLC, the company affiliated with the railroad with an address at 30 Hawleyville Road, has a website, StrategicDisposal.com, where certain materials of concern are listed. The site lists construction and demolition debris, nonfriable asbestos-containing materials, contaminated soils, roofing materials, industrial wastes, ash, processed tires, liquids and wet materials, hazardous materials, and more.

Addressing the situation in her letter, Ms Mitchell wrote: “This unregulated, unsupervised operation, with no quality assurance standard, should not be tolerated nor allowed to continue …” Because the town has granted an extension, she requests that “Land Use conduct daily visits with photographic and written documentation, formal requests to the attorney general for a moratorium on all activities, deny any additional requests for time extensions.” Regarding extension, Ms Mitchell asked, “If we grant them, then we have to do it responsibly.”

Mr Ferguson would later ask, “What is the process for determining what is in a load [of material]. Who sorts it? How do we determine if they’re adhering to the permitted activities? They don’t have permits yet.”

Ms Mitchell said, “Newtown agencies are going to have to become experts — quickly.”

Opening A Discussion

With the rapt Conservation Commissioners as an audience, Ms Mitchell made a lengthier in-person appeal explaining that the facility could harm the Pond Brook Aquifer, to which Mr Ferguson noted, operations “should be more stringent.” Although his advisory committee “can not enforce, we can open the discussion …”

Despite local agency’s citations and extensions on the railroad’s reply to wetlands violations, for one, Ms Mitchell said again, “That’s part of the alarm, because they continue to operate. They continue to bring in materials.”

The conversation turned. Was the Pond Brook Aquifer the sole source of drinking water for a particular area? “That’s a good questions,” Mr Ferguson mused, wondering if Federal Sole Source Aquifer protections could apply. Commission member Mary Kaley had initially asked about the aquifer protection. Focusing on her concerns once again, Ms Mitchell stressed, “We’re alarmed at the potential harm and aggressive activity at the site.”

Is the railroad company operating with impunity? Mr Ferguson came back to that question many times Tuesday. “It seems to me that they’re moving forward,” he said. “It seems they don’t care about enforcements or violations.” Ms Mitchell pressed, “This is multifaceted … just finding out who has jurisdiction.” Referring to the Clean Railroad Act, she said, “The act has never been tested; this could set precedent.”

Resident and neighbor to the 30 Hawleyville Road address, Dave Broughton claims that the railroad property’s footprint appears to have changed in the past several years, citing that trees down, concrete and fill have altered the landscape. “I can tell there are changes to the footprint in their property,” he told the commission. “There is more fill. It’s dramatic.”

Ms Mitchell asked again, “Who is watching?” Mr Ferguson thought aloud: “Is there any faith that what they say is true that we should rest the safety of our families on their word of mouth?” Commission member Dr Marjorie Cramer asked, “What do you want us to do?”

Ms Mitchell said, “Talk to colleagues, be informed, be activists on our behalf.” Dr Cramer later said, “I believe in grassroots efforts; we should come up with some kind of plan.”

 “One question,” Mr Ferguson said, “Is this a threat to our natural resources?”

“While we’re trying to figure it out, they just keep dumping,” Ms Mitchell noted. Voicing a larger fear, Ms Mitchell said, “This is just the beginning and we don’t know how it is going to change the town … this is where political activism comes in.”

What-Ifs

Discussion between commission members and the public further exploring the “what-ifs” of the transfer facility, materials, and health hazards with words including cancer, spills, cleanups, to which Mr Broughton said, “I get my drinking water from that aquifer.”

After Ms Mitchell and supports left the meeting, member Mary Kaley said, “They’re asking for our help.” Dr Cramer replied, “We shouldn’t underestimate our position.”

Railroad representatives could not be reached for comment prior to deadline.

As of August 5, First Selectman Borst had asked that Land Use Deputy Director George Benson’s department make daily visits to the railroad transfer site. “I said I wanted photos to note any changes day to day to see if there are violations.”

Early Thursday morning Mr Benson confirmed that he and his staff have been visiting the transfer station. “We’re taking pictures,” he said, referring to the first selectman’s request. Explaining his office’s position, he said, “We can’t stop them from doing business; we can’t stop them from working.” Noting the recent violation notices and extensions through August 31, he explained, “It is not an order to stop them from running their business; even a cease and desist would not be an order to stop [business].” The violations and a cease and desist would be “not to fill wetlands,” he said. Either the DEP or attorney general “might be able” to stop operations.

Mr Benson concluded, “We’re still exploring our jurisdiction and we have to be cautious, we can’t overstep, we can’t stop a business from running.”