Environmental Violations—

DEP Cites Housatonic Railroad, Waste Contractor

By Andrew Gorosko

Based on an inspection at the Housatonic Railroad Company’s rail terminal at 30 Hawleyville Road (Route 25), the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has issued the railroad and also the railroad’s solid waste contractor, known as Newtown Transload, LLC, notices that they have violated environmental protection laws.

The railroad and its contractor are in the midst of an ongoing, controversial permit application to the DEP through which the railroad seeks to increase the range of solid waste and also expand the tonnage of solid waste that it handles at its 13.3-acre site. The railroad transfers solid waste from heavy trucks onto railcars for shipment by rail to out-of-state landfills.

The waste expansion application has proven controversial, drawing stiff opposition on environmental grounds from town officials and a citizens group known as Hawleyville Environmental Advocacy Team (HEAT). The environmental 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.

In a July 7 letter to Edward Rodriguez, the railroad’s vice president and general counsel, Robert Isner, DEP’s director of waste engineering and enforcement, writes that based on the results of an April 9 DEP inspection at the site, the railroad has violated the state’s solid waste management regulations.

Based on the significance of the violations, the DEP will issue a formal enforcement action, including a consent order that would require the payment of a fine, with the option of performing an environmental improvement project which would reduce the fine, according to Mr Isner.

The DEP has issued the violation under the terms of the Federal Clean Railroads Act of 2008. That law shifted the responsibility for regulating the health and safety aspects of railroad companies’ solid waste handling from the US government to state governments.

The lengthy notice of violation lists five basic reasons why the railroad is being cited by DEP.

These include that the railroad allegedly:

*Altered the proposed design and operation of its solid waste expansion application pending before the DEP without following DEP procedures.

*Failed to remove waste stored on the property within 48 hours.

*Failed to unload solid waste only within an enclosed structure. 

*Failed to keep the solid waste facility and adjacent areas clean and reasonably free of litter.

*Failed to notify DEP within 24 hours that a roof had collapsed over the area where the railroad handles solid waste.

Asked to comment on the railroad’s receiving the violation notice from DEP, Colin Pease, the railroad’s vice president for special projects, said July 14 that the firm had just received the notice. The railroad is formulating a written response to DEP, he said.

Newtown Transload

In a July 6 letter to attorney Samuel Hurwitz, who represents Newtown Transload, Donna Seresin, of DEP’s water permitting and enforcement unit, wrote that Newtown Transload has violated state environmental protection law based on the results of DEP’s April 9 inspection at the railroad property.

Ms Seresin alleges ten environmental violations by Newtown Transload.

These include that Transload: failed to seek an industrial stormwater discharge permit in connection with its waste handling activities on the railroad site; failed to prepare, implement, and keep on the railroad property a pollution prevention plan; and failed to maintain good housekeeping practices at the facility.

Also, Ms Seresin states that Newtown Transload: failed to maintain adequate erosion controls at the site; failed to cover all dumpsters and all roll-off waste containers at the site; and failed to provide suitable chemical containment facilities.

Also, the DEP official wrote that Newtown Transload: failed to maintain required records of its activities; failed to complete environmental monitoring requirements; discharged sediment into a wetland or watercourse without a permit; and discharged stormwater with a potential to pollute.

In a memorandum accompanying the violation notice to Newtown Transload, Ms Seresin notes a range of environmental problems that she observed during her April 9 inspection.

Ms Seresin wrote that she saw “municipal solid waste,” otherwise known as household garbage, which included paper, dirty recyclables, and decomposing food. The garbage was found in dumpsters and along and behind some railroad tracks.

Also, Ms Seresin saw a full 55-gallon drum of an unspecified chemical liquid stored outdoors next to a dumpster without any drum cover or secondary physical containment for the drum. The drum had no labels on it and a waste manager on the site did not know what was inside the drum, Ms Seresin wrote.

Also, Ms Seresin noted that while inspecting the property, she observed inadequate erosion controls, the placement of construction/demolition debris directly next to wetlands, a stormwater discharge point leading to wetlands, uncovered dumpsters, trash emanating from railcars, and an erosion gully and a stormwater discharge pipe leading to wetlands.

“Because Newtown does not have a public water supply in the [railroad terminal] area, I was concerned about the potential for the stormwater discharges from this site to pollute groundwater resources, in addition to surface water resources,” Ms Seresin wrote.

The nearest domestic water well is about 350 feet away from the railroad site, she added.

The DEP will thus require Newtown Transload to chemically sample its stormwater discharges to learn of their water quality, she adds.

Violations of state environmental law are subject to civil fines of up to $25,000 per day, plus possible court action.

The two notices of violation describe the steps that the Housatonic Railroad and Newtown Transload should take to correct the listed violations.

A New Hurdle

In a related matter, on June 21, members of the General Assembly unanimously overrode Governor M. Jodi Rell’s recent veto of environmental protection legislation concerning solid waste handling that occurs near aquifers, which are underground sources of drinking water.

The veto override means that it will now be more difficult for the Housatonic Railroad to accomplish its controversial proposed solid waste expansion project.

The legislation, which has taken effect, seeks to prevent the expansion of solid waste handling facilities that lie within 1,000 feet of a “primary aquifer” or a “secondary aquifer,” until and unless, there exists a need for such additional solid waste handling capacity as specified by the state’s Solid Waste Management Plan. The railroad property sits atop an aquifer.