Town Grants Railroad Time Extension To Submit Wetlands Data

By Andrew Gorosko

The town has granted the Housatonic Railroad Company a requested time extension to submit technical information on the steps the railroad would take to environmentally protect wetlands at its 13.3-acre property at 30 Hawleyville Road (Route 25).

The move comes amid public controversy over the railroad’s proposal to expand its solid waste handling at its Hawleyville rail terminal. The railroad is seeking to significantly expand the tonnage and also increase the range of solid waste material that it transfers from heavy trucks onto railcars for shipment for disposal at out-of-state landfills. The town formally opposes the railroad’s proposal to expand its solid waste handling.

In an August 6 letter to Edward Rodriguez, who is the railroad’s general counsel, Rob Sibley, the town deputy director of planning and land use, writes, “Your request for extension for submission of [technical] materials is granted.”

Mr Sibley adds that the railroad must submit by August 31 the mapping and technical information that it is preparing following the town’s recent notice to the railroad that it is in violation of town wetlands regulations.

In a July 24 letter to Mr Rodriguez, Mr Sibley had described those violations. “These activities include but are not limited to depositing material in wetlands areas, clearing wetlands, and causing sediment to discharge into wetlands,” Mr Sibley wrote. He also informed the railroad that it would be required to file a wetlands permit application with the town within ten days, or consequently be subject to fines and penalties for the wetlands violations.

In an August 4 response letter, Mr Rodriguez wrote, “We expect to submit detailed information to your office which will include a map showing wetland delineation and a description of measures that have been taken, or that are ongoing, to protect wetland resources…We look forward to working with you in the future to further protect wetland resources…We will endeavor to complete this work as soon as reasonably practicable, but no later than August 31, 2009. We respectfully request that you wait to receive this submission before determining what course of action you wish to take in this matter.”

The Hawleyville Environmental Advocacy Team (HEAT), an ad hoc group that opposes the railroad’s expansion of solid waste handling, also is opposing the town’s granting the railroad a time extension to submit wetlands data. (See related story.)

Town Conservation Official Ann Astarita said August 12 that, so far, the railroad has erected some silt fencing, positioned hay bales, and installed concrete barrier rails at its property to address the environmental concerns listed by Mr Sibley.

It is the second time that the town has informed the railroad of wetlands violations at the railroad property. In June 2007, Mr Sibley told the railroad that it violated town wetlands rules.

Until Congress approved the Clean Railroads Act of 2008, the federal government had been the only regulator of railroad activities. Through that federal law, the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) now has regulatory power over the public health and safety aspects of the railroad’s solid waste handling expansion proposal.

The railroad is seeking DEP permission to increase its solid waste handling from 450 tons daily to 2,000 tons daily.

Until now, the solid waste shipped out by rail has largely been construction/demolition debris. In the permit application now under review by the 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.

The waste expansion proposal has met with stiff opposition from nearby residents and local government officials who say that the expansion would pose environmental hazards, increase heavy truck traffic in the area, and damage Hawleyville Center’s character.