(The following article by Peter J. Sampson was posted on the Bergen Record website on December 14.)
NEWARK, N.J. — A state official testified Tuesday that the enclosed waste-transfer stations the New York Susquehanna & Western Railway Corp. is building in North Bergen failed to comply with basic building code and environmental safeguards.
The so-called “transload” facilities, which have not received zoning and planning approvals, lack sprinkler systems, restrooms and such basic emergency equipment as eye washes in the event a worker is exposed to dust, said Thomas R. Marturano, director of solid waste and natural resources for the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission.
“It’s unconscionable to be inside these buildings in such unsafe conditions,” Marturano testified during the second day of a hearing before U.S. District Judge Katherine S. Hayden.
The judge continued the hearing until March but directed the railroad to work with the state to address concerns about the transfer facilities, where tons of construction and demolition debris and contaminated soils are delivered by truck to be loaded onto rail cars for out-of-state disposal.
Hit with a $2.5 million fine for violating 2004 regulations governing the design, construction and operation of rail transload facilities, NYS&W sued the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Meadowlands Commission in August, contending the DEP regulations are preempted by federal law.
The judge temporarily blocked the state from enforcing the regulations and collecting the fines. She allowed the railroad and its loading contractors to continue operating the transfer sites as NYS&W moved to replace four “open air” dumps with enclosed facilities that are supposed to control dust, pests, odors and wastewater runoff.
But Marturano said the new facilities are fraught with problems.
In addition to failing to comply with building and safety codes, he said, the scales to weigh trucks were not located properly and could lead to dangerous backups along a street that crosses the tracks.
“Traffic is a huge issue,” he said, noting there’s been no assessment of the effects of hundreds of daily truck trips on local roads.
Marturano said the sites were being operated by solid waste haulers who didn’t want to spend the time or money to create legitimate transfer stations.
He also asserted that the railroad’s recently instituted “flow control” measures, intended to prevent dangerous mountains of construction and demolition debris from accumulating at transfer sites, have led to illegal dumping in the district.
Truckers who find the gates closed early often dump their loads in deserted parts of the Meadowlands, he said.
Hayden has been pushing the parties to settle. She noted that any decision she made would likely be appealed by the losing party, take years to resolve and not serve the people of New Jersey now.
Finding that the railroad, which operates 400 miles of track in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, has made progress in improving its facilities, she directed it to continue the dialogue with the state and identify which state regulations it intends to obey and which it won’t.
She said she also would entertain a request by the state to have the rail line post a bond to cover its potential fines and asked both sides to suggest a fair amount. The judge also said she wants to see a traffic study done.
Paul Moates, a NYS&W attorney, said the rail line expects to finish the facilities and be in substantial compliance by the time the parties return to court in March.