(The Associated Press distributed the following story by Carolyn Thompson on July 23.)
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Tons of rotting garbage that have fouled a city neighborhood since December will be moved out in shifts as part of a series of court-approved agreements, authorities said Wednesday.
The announcement came one day after a protest by neighborhood residents, who say they have been overrun by flies and unable to enjoy their back yards and porches.
The estimated 20 million to 40 million pounds of waste fill 400 rail cars at a rail yard adjoining several residential streets.
The first group of cars was to roll out about 2 a.m. Thursday, destined for an out-of-state landfill, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said. The cars will be moved over a period of four weeks. The landfill was not identified.
“No one will be more pleased by this development than the residents of the Clinton-Bailey neighborhood who have had to live with a foul and unpleasant illegal landfill in their backyards for far too long,” said Spitzer, who brought legal action in May accusing three companies of violating environmental laws and creating a public nuisance.
The so-called trash train originated in New York City. New York-based Chem-Rail Logistics shipped the garbage to Buffalo, where it was to be transferred to trucks and driven to a Niagara County landfill.
In February, the Modern Landfill began refusing the waste because Chem-Rail had not paid its bill.
Assistant Attorney General Linda White said Chem-Rail, along with Express Intermodal Services _ the company hired to transfer the trash from train to truck _ remain subject to legal action. The state will likely drop action against Canadian Pacific Railway Co. once the trash is gone, White said. “The rails are not the parties that created the situation,” she said.
Numerous messages left since May at the offices of Chem-Rail Logistics, including one on Wednesday, have gone unreturned. The owner of Buffalo-based Express Intermodal has said his company was a subcontractor of Chem-Rail and had to stop work when the landfill refused to accept the trash.
White said finally getting the trash moved involved agreements with the out-of-state landfill, Canadian Pacific and CSX railroads, the company that owns the containers holding the trash and others. Annexus Storage and Cartage, which holds liens on the containers, will pay the approximately $300,000 in landfill fees as a way to regain possession of the containers, White said. Annexus is not the target of legal action, she said.
“The court kept pressure on the parties to reach agreement,” White said. “Everyone worked amazingly well to get past the problems.”
Rep. Jack Quinn, R-N.Y., said inspections of the cars have been ongoing in preparation of the move. Quinn, who chairs the House Transportation Subcommittee on Railroads, said the Federal Railroad Administration would monitor progress.