P&Z Ponders Increased Hawleyville Truck Traffic

By Andrew Gorosko

Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members are considering the prospect of greatly increased heavy-truck traffic posed by the Housatonic Railroad Company’s proposal to more than quadruple the daily tonnage of solid waste that the railroad ships out from its Hawleyville rail terminal for disposal at out-of-state landfills.

On May 21, P&Z members discussed the railroad’s application to the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for a solid waste transfer permit for increasing its waste shipments. The DEP has jurisdiction over the health and safety aspects of such a solid waste trans-shipment operation under the provisions of the federal 2008 Clean Railroads Act. Until that federal law was approved, only the federal government had jurisdiction over the railroad’s operations.

The P&Z has no jurisdiction in the railroad application, but plans to formally comment to the DEP on the solid waste transfer expansion proposal. It is expected that the DEP will spend about one year reviewing the railroad’s permit application.

In its pending DEP application, the railroad seeks approval for shipping via train from its Shepaug Terminal in Hawleyville up to 2,000 tons of solid waste daily. Until now, the railroad has handled up to 450 tons of such waste daily. Heavy trucks bring the waste to the rail terminal for reloading onto trains.

Besides solid waste handling, the rail terminal is used for the transfer and storage of building materials, including lumber. The terminal at 30 Hawleyville Road has operated since 1995. It has handled solid waste since 2004. The Housatonic Railroad operates on track extending between Pittsfield, Mass., and Derby, Conn.

Until now, the railroad has largely loaded construction/demolition debris from heavy trucks onto open railcars for shipment out of state. That solid waste is generated in southwestern Connecticut, is then trucked to Hawleyville, and then transferred onto railcars for shipment to Ohio for disposal.

“It is not a local zoning issue,” said P&Z Chairman Lilla Dean of the P&Z’s lack of authority over railroad operations. Ms Dean is a Hawleyville resident.

However, “It might be a [local] wetlands issue,” said Land Use Agency Director George Benson in light of the rail terminal’s proximity to environmentally sensitive wetlands.

Mr Benson stressed that town officials are working closely with DEP officials who are reviewing the proposal for expanded solid waste rail shipments out from Hawleyville.

“We’re going to have a lot of input into it,” Mr Benson said of the review process. The town will seek a local informational session on the railroad’s waste expansion proposal, he said. Also, the town will seek a formal public hearing on the proposal.

The town will hire a traffic engineering firm to conduct a study on the truck traffic aspects of expanded solid waste transfer operations in Hawleyville, Mr Benson said.

“We have a long way to go with it,” he said.

Ms Dean said that she accompanied some Hawleyville residents on a walking tour of the railroad’s 13.3-acre Hawleyville property on May 19. Nearby property owners are concerned about the increased noise aspects of expanded waste operations there, she said.

P&Z member James Belden, who has a background in waste disposal management, told P&Z members that the railroad had not disclosed all the details of the proposed expansion project to local officials. With the expansion of waste shipments, there also is a need for waste storage space at the railroad property, he said.

The railroad may have conducted operations outside of its property boundary lines, possibly resulting in the town needing to enforce wetlands regulations against the company, Mr Benson said.

“There’s a lot of issues,” he said.

State legislators from this area support the town’s viewpoint on the railroad’s solid waste permit application, he said.

Also, the town’s attorneys are reviewing the local implications of the provisions of the Clean Railroads Act, he said. He also pointed out that the town derives no benefit from expanded waste shipments out from the Hawleyville rail terminal.

Permit Application

According to the permit application filed by the railroad with the DEP on April 13, the railroad wants to build and operate a “solid waste rail transfer facility (SWRTF).”

The railroad would do business under the name Newtown Transload, LLC. The application fee for the DEP permit review of the project was $14,250.

Besides the rail shipment of up to 2,000 tons of solid waste daily, the railroad also would need storage facilities for almost 8,000 tons of waste.

The waste transfer facility would be located on the northern five acres of the railroad’s 13.3-acre site. Train movements could occur around-the-clock on any day of the week.

Six pieces of equipment would be used for waste reloading, including backhoes and loaders.

Materials that could be shipped out of Hawleyville by rail would include construction/demolition debris, 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.

Waste to be transported out by rail would need to be stored under cover.

The transition from current waste operations to expanded operations would occur in two phases.

The first phase would include some minor changes to existing facilities. The second phase would involve the construction of a new spur line of railroad track on the property. Also, a 10,000-square-foot building, plus a 625-square-foot building annex, would be constructed. The facilities would be used for the indoor sorting, processing, and/or loading of waste materials onto railcars.

The new building would be used for handling construction/demolition debris. The annex would be used for the direct reloading of contaminated soils and other wastes.

According to the application, the railroad now uses about 3,600 square feet of space in an existing building for its waste transfer operation. The proposed building would have a waste storage capacity of approximately 1,666 cubic yards of volume.

Colin Pease, the railroad’s vice president for special projects, has said he expects that future waste handling operations at the Hawleyville terminal would run from 6 am to 6 pm on Mondays through Fridays, and possibly on Saturday mornings. Railroad trains, however, move around the clock, seven days a week, he adds.