For Materials, Not Waste—

Railroad Files New Permit Request

By Andrew Gorosko

The Housatonic Railroad Company is proposing that almost four-fifths of the 9,500 cubic yards of earthen fill that was deposited at its 30 Hawleyville Road rail terminal in 2009 without the required prior approval from the Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC), be removed from the property as part of its plans to improve its facilities for the handling and temporary storage of construction materials.

At a May 12 IWC public hearing, Edward Rodriguez, railroad vice president, said that the railroad’s current application for a wetlands protection permit is separate from an earlier request for a wetlands permit for the site submitted by Newtown Transload, LLC, which the IWC rejected in February.

Newtown Transload is a contractor for the railroad. Newtown Transload has appealed that wetlands permit rejection in Danbury Superior Court.

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

Mr Rodriguez stressed that that the wetlands permit now being sought by the railroad is connected with the firm’s building materials storage business, not with an expansion of its solid waste transfer station business. As the economy improves, the railroad wants to have improved facilities available for railcar switching and for the unloading of building materials, he said.

The railroad receives shipments of building materials by rail which it temporarily stores for reshipment by truck.

About five years ago, the railroad also got into the solid waste transfer business. The railroad transfers solid waste from 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 at its terminal has proven controversial, drawing stiff opposition on environmental grounds from a citizens group and town officials.

Also, the railroad proposes installing shorter lengths of rail track than was proposed in Newtown Trainload’s permit request, Mr. Rodriguez said. The current proposal calls for about 615 feet of new track, instead of the previously sought 1,400 feet of track, he said.

The redesigned plans for the site would involve removing about 7,500 cubic yards of the 9,500 cubic yards of earthen fill that had been placed there without prior IWC approval, he said.

Also, invasive plant species would be removed and beneficial plant species would be planted, he said.

Megan Raymond, a wetlands/soil scientist representing the railroad, said stormwater flow would be controlled on the site. A stormwater retention basin and a swale would be installed, she said. A planting plan for vegetation would be specified and a retaining wall would be built on the property. Also, saplings would be planted near some track, she said.

Mr Rodriguez said the railroad’s application focuses on wetlands protection. It seeks to address neighbors’ concerns regarding wetlands and aesthetics, he said. The railroad is seeking to keep to a minimum the disturbances to residents that are posed by the presence of a railroad, he said.

Mr Rodriguez said that the outcome of the railroad’s proposal for increased solid waste handling that is now pending before the DEP is uncertain.

Asked after the public hearing why the railroad is now seeking IWC approval for a wetlands permit in connection with the increased handling and storage of building materials, while Newtown Transload is simultaneously appealing the rejection of its wetlands permit in connection with increased solid waste handling, Mr Rodriguez declined to answer.

At the public hearing, Ann Marie Mitchell of the ad hoc Hawleyville Environmental Advocacy Team (HEAT) asked that the IWC add to its list of intervenors for the application the name of James Sottile, a consultant to HEAT, who is an expert on railroad safety issues.

Also, Ms Mitchell urged that intervenors to the application be allowed to accompany town officials on a tour of the railroad site.

Mr Sottile told IWC members that certain railcar operations conducted by the railroad at the railyard are dangerous.

Several residents expressed their concerns to the IWC about the prospect of the railroad’s activities causing environmental damage to the area.

The IWC plans to resume the public hearing on the railroad’s wetlands application on May 26.

Legislation

State Representative Christopher Lyddy said earlier on May 12 that Governor M. Jodi Rell had not yet acted on legislation intended to provide added environmental protection for underground sources of drinking water aquifers located near solid waste transfer stations.

On May 5, the state General Assembly approved legislation that apparently would make it more difficult for the Housatonic Railroad Company to accomplish its proposed expansion of solid waste handling at its Hawleyville rail terminal.

Rep Lyddy and State Senator John McKinney introduced the legislation. Rep Lyddy said the legislation was proposed as a safeguard to protect the quality of underground water supplies that are used as drinking water. The rail terminal is an aquifer area.

The state legislation would require, in part, that the DEP commissioner not approve any pending request for a new solid waste facility located within 1,000 feet of a primary aquifer or a secondary aquifer, or the expansion of any such existing solid waste facility, until the “need” for such additional solid waste handling capacity is specified by the state’s Solid Waste Management Plan.

Rep Lyddy said he hopes that the governor signs the legislation. If the governor does not act on the legislation by May 20, it would automatically become law.

 

FOI Complaint

In another matter, Newtown Transload has filed a state Freedom of Information compliant against the town, seeking various information in connection with the IWC’s February rejection of the firm’s request for a wetlands permit.

The Freedom of Information Commission is reviewing the complaint.