(The Associated Press circulated the following story on December 29.)
DETROIT (AP) — Canadian National Railway Co. has filed a lawsuit against Wayne County and Rockwood, claiming the governments are interfering with its right to ship construction debris from New Jersey into Michigan.
The city and county are preparing to seek injunctions against the Montreal-based railroad’s operation, which unloads about 1,000 tons of trash a day from train cars onto trucks, which then take the waste to the Allied Waste-Rockwood landfill just over the border in Monroe County.
Unbeknownst to county and city officials, the railway filed suit in U.S. District Court in Detroit on Nov. 16 — two weeks before the shipments began and in the midst of talks between government and railway officials about the trash, The Detroit News reported in a Wednesday story.
In its suit, Canadian National claims the county and city violated the U.S. Constitution by issuing orders to stop building the trash-transfer station. The suit seeks an injunction barring the county and city from enforcing environmental regulations on the facility.
“This is par for the course,” Rockwood Mayor Phillip Smalley said. “With one hand, they pat you on the back and say they want to be your friend. With the other, they file a lawsuit.”
At issue in Rockwood is whether Wayne County’s environmental laws can apply to a railroad. Because of the crucial role they play in the national economy, railroads have been exempt from many local regulations and zoning laws for more than 100 years.
Howard Gurwin, a lawyer for Canadian National, deferred comment to company spokesman Jim Kvedaras, who couldn’t be reached for comment by The News.
Kurt Heise, Wayne County’s environmental chief, said county officials have a right to protect their residents from trash.
“To do nothing means we could end up with more trains of trash coming into Michigan at any point in the border, which only compounds the imported-waste crisis,” he said.