Railroad Ending Solid Waste Operations In Hawleyville

By Andrew Gorosko

The Housatonic Railroad Company has withdrawn its controversial state environmental permit application to expand its solid waste handling at its 12.5-acre Hawleyville rail terminal and, in effect, is ending its solid waste operations there.

Closure of the solid waste transfer station at 30 Hawleyville Road (Route 25) would end about eight years of such activity on the railroad’s sidings in Hawleyville Center. During that period, the railroad has transferred solid waste, including construction and demolition debris, from trucks onto railcars for shipment to out-of-state landfills.

The railroad’s April 2009 application to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) to greatly expand its waste handling and also to broaden the range of waste that it would handle, drew intense opposition from an ad hoc citizens group known as the Hawleyville Environmental Advocacy Team (HEAT).

HEAT had charged that allowing the railroad to expand waste operations would increase the potential environmental hazards in the area, especially in the form of water pollution. HEAT members lobbied local, state, and federal officials to support their drive to defeat the railroad’s waste expansion plans.

That effort spurred the enactment of a June 2010 state law on the protection of water quality in aquifers, an action that made it more difficult for the railroad to gain state approval to expand its waste handling, when considering that the rail terminal is located above an aquifer.

In a December 26 letter, Edward Rodriguez, the railroad’s general counsel, informed DEEP official Robert Isner that, “In view of a number of factors, including the opinions expressed in your letter of December 12, 2011, that [waste handling] violations have not been expeditiously corrected and that a recognizable system has not been put in place to prevent additional or recurring violations, Housatonic Railroad has decided to withdraw its [DEEP] application.”

“Waste operation at the facility has been discontinued,” Mr Rodriguez added.

Since September 2009, DEEP had issued seven waste-handling violation notices concerning operations at the rail terminal.

Besides solid waste handling, the railroad terminal has long served as a temporary storage depot for various building materials, including lumber, which is then transported by heavy trucks to lumberyards for sale.

In a December 27 letter, Mr Isner responded to Mr Rodriguez, stating that solid waste receiving, storage, and transfer, as allowed by the federal Clean Railroads Act of October 2008, must stop at the rail terminal and can no longer occur without the prior approval of the DEEP commissioner.

Also, the railroad must inform its waste-handling contractor, Newtown Transload, LLC, that waste handling is prohibited at the site and must stop, Mr Isner wrote.

DEEP is requiring that any existing solid waste that has accumulated at the rail terminal must be removed by January 6.

In 2007, the town had first issued the railroad a notice that it was violating environmental protection regulations, based on the railroad’s waste handling activity.

In 2008, the US Clean Railroads Act shifted the authority for regulating the railroad industry’s waste handling from federal agencies to state agencies, resulting in the Housatonic Railroad then needing to apply to DEEP for permission to expand waste operations.

Consequently, DEEP then allowed the town Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) to regulate certain wetlands/watercourses protection rules at the rail terminal.

  

Response

First Selectman Pat Llodra noted that the railroad will have a couple of weeks to get any accumulated waste removed from the property.

DEEP will continue pursuing remedies for past waste handling violations committed by the railroad and by Newtown Transload, she said.

“This is good news for Newtown…I’m very pleased for Newtown, for the people who live in Newtown,” Mrs Llodra said.

The town has invested much time, effort, and resources into resolving the issues raised by the railroad’s waste handling, she said.

“This is huge for Hawleyville and the town,” Mrs Llodra said.

Although the railroad’s withdrawal of its DEEP permit application would end waste handling, it would not affect the railroad’s use of the site a storage depot for building materials, she said.

George Benson, town director of planning and land use, said that the closure of the waste transfer station demonstrates the effectiveness of unified action by various elements of the community.

“It was great that everybody got together on one issue,” Mr Benson said of the wide opposition to the railroad expanding its waste handling. “It’s an example of how you can get things done,” he added.

Ann Marie Mitchell, a founding member of HEAT who no longer is affiliated with that organization, said December 28, “It was a very difficult and cumbersome issue. It was a long-term effort…It’s been very intense.

“Protection of our water [resources] was always our concern,” she said.

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

Ms Mitchell expressed gratitude to the members of HEAT, and to town, state, and federal officials who supported HEAT’s viewpoint in addressing concerns raised by the prospect of expanded waste handling in Hawleyville.

“We have a great potential in Hawleyville,” she said, adding that the railroad’s getting out of the waste handling business will make for a better Hawleyville.