(The following story by Richard Payerchin appeared on the Lorain Morning Journal website on April 12.)
SANDUSKY, Ohio — One person’s trash is another’s potential identity theft, said a Sandusky resident who found a medical form among debris blown off a Norfolk Southern train.
Sandusky residents this month have launched a new round of complaints about papers and trash blowing off railroad cars carrying refuse to Ottawa County. A railroad spokesman said Norfolk Southern learned of the concerns this week and will investigate potential problems.
The Sandusky City Commission this week discussed a petition signed by 92 city residents who say the trash trains sitting on the tracks “are attracting rodents” when the rail cars sit on sidings along North and South Depot streets.
The cars have since been shuffled to a siding in Sandusky’s west end as they wait to enter Ottawa County.
Holly Hardecker, a frequent walker in the St. Mary and St. Joseph cemeteries, said she found a medical form that traveled from the East Coast to the local cemeteries and she believes was blown off the trash-filled train cars.
The paper, with several sheets folded in half, had a name, address and other numbers on it, Hardecker said. But it was the location that sparked recognition for Hardecker.
The form came from Bayonne, N.J., and Hardecker said she immediately recalled the Atlantic port from her days stationed at Fort Dix, N.J., in the Women’s Army Corps.
“That’s why it stuck out in my mind so much,” Hardecker said. “This was in the cemetery and you wouldn’t exactly find that blowing around. It was a couple of pages folded over. They weren’t rained on or anything like that. They were very readable.”
The trains start in northern New Jersey and head for the Ottawa County landfill, said Rudy Husband, spokesman for Norfolk Southern railway. The trains are meant to carry construction debris and have a web of netting on top to prevent items from falling out, he said.
The company learned of complaints from Sanduskians only this week, Husband said.
“The material that is in dispute is construction debris, there’s nothing organic about it,” Husband said. “We’re working with the origin point as well as the destination to figure out exactly what’s going on. It’s all in the process of being investigated.”
The city staff will work with the railroad company to find a solution, said Sandusky Law Director Don Icsman. Assistant Law Director Michael Kaufman will speak to the railroad’s legal counsel about the issue, he said.
The railroad company will try to speed up the rate at which the cars are emptied to move the trains along more quickly, Icsman said.
“It’s a problem,” Icsman said. “We’re just getting the burden of it. We’re not getting any of the benefit. It’s a contract between Ottawa County and New Jersey and we’re in the middle.”
Hardecker said she sympathizes with the residents along the Depot streets in Sandusky. Those homes are located closer to the tracks than her own.
She did not keep the healthcare papers she found in the cemetery.
“You try your best to protect your identity and then you have someone along the way that undoes your best efforts,” Hardecker said. “I figured by my tearing it up, it’s done for.”