(The following story by Michael Tomberlin appeared on the Birmingham News website on August 18, 2009.)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Preliminary designs of Norfolk Southern’s $112 million cargo-loading rail hub call for 15-foot berms next to McAdory Elementary School and a 16-foot sound wall along the access road behind the Sadler Ridge subdivision.
The design will be shown at a public meeting Norfolk Southern is holding at the Bessemer Civic Center from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday. Some residents of the area and parent of students at the school are vehemently opposed to the project.
The detailed plans — which railroad officials said are subject to revision — show that the 316-acre facility will be developed in two phases.
The first phase calls for two loading tracks and three storage tracks and as many as 1,154 trailer and container parking spaces. The second will add one loading track and one storage track, plus 336 trailer and container parking spaces.
That would give the Birmingham Regional Intermodal Facility, as it’s called, a total of three loading tracks, four storage tracks and up to 1,490 trailer and container parking spaces. The design calls for six crane-ways where the 47_-foot cranes will travel to load containers from truck trailers onto the trains, or vice versa.
More 15-foot landscaped berms are planned on the north end of the property near Sadler Ridge and other homes.
The design also shows the distances the hub will be from various locations:
>> The northeastern corner of the McAdory Elementary School cafeteria will be 488 feet from the nearest concrete pad where the containers will be stored, including a 15-foot landscaped berm in between. The same corner of the school is more than one mile from the entrance to the facility off McAshan Drive.
>> At its closest point to Eastern Valley Road the hub is 1,013 feet behind an existing ridge that will get landscaping.
>> The entrance road is within 340 feet of a barn on the back side of one of the homes in Sadler Ridge. The road is 553 feet from the home on that same property.
The plans also call for an administration building, a maintenance building and a pair of buildings for mechanical and transportation uses. There is an employee parking lot with 166 spaces, the design shows. Entrances and exits will be monitored by security cameras.
It’s difficult to tell what the new details will mean to most residents of the growing McCalla community.
Tonight’s meeting comes after 150 residents gathered in the elementary school cafeteria on Monday night to hear from the No Hub 4 McCalla group formed to fight the project.
At the meeting, Dr. Robert Geller, a pediatric toxicology expert from Emory University in Atlanta, told the audience a noisy environment is not conducive to learning and that air pollution emissions near a school could have an adverse effect on the children and teachers there.”
To the extent we can choose (children’s) environment, we need to do so,” Geller said.
Dr. Anne Turner-Henson, pediatrics professor at the school of nursing at UAB, said there have been numerous studies citing the affects diesel fumes and other pollutants have on children.
“I’m proud to see the citizens of McCalla stand up and fight this,” she said.
Many residents continue to be concerned about the effect diesel emissions will have on the school, and most opponents remain unconvinced that the landscaped berm will do enough to block out noise. Declining property values, increased traffic on McAshan Drive and an overall decline in quality of life are other issues raised by those who oppose the project.
The railroad company has purchased or has options to purchase the property for the project. Because the project falls under federal statutes, it doesn’t have to obtain local zoning changes. It must, however, get environmental and other permits to build the hub.
Rudy Husband, Norfolk Southern spokesman, said adjustments already have been made to the facility’s design and more could follow after feedback from the public.
He said tonight’s meeting will feature multiple stations set up in the Bessemer Civic Center auditorium, allowing residents to speak to experts who can address concerns on specific topics.
“There is also going to be a court reporter there and paper for people to leave question and comments,” he said. “We will respond to every question.”
He said the forum is not going to allow for prolonged debate.
“The challenge is, because we’re expecting a high turnout, we’re not going to have a lot of time to debate issues,” Husband said. “We’re hoping people can come and if they have questions we can provide the answers.”
No Hub 4 McCalla members have applied for a protest permit from the City of Bessemer for tonight’s meeting. They are prepared to wear yellow T-shirts and surgical masks with “No Hub” on them.
“We will stop this railroad, but public outcry is what we’re going to need to stop it,” Johnny Jones, one of the organizers, said.