Photo provided/Protect the Adirondacks
Stakeholders are calling for the federal Surface Transportation Board to get involved in the controversial plan by Saratoga & North Creek Railway to store unused rail cars on their lines in the Adirondack Park. Pictured above: A half mile of siding track has been filled with used out-of-service rail cars on a stretch of track that runs along the Boreas River.
ELIZABETHTOWN | A congressional candidate is calling for federal authorities to investigate the plan by a railroad company to store unused rail cars on 22 miles of tracks within the Adirondack Park.
Katie Wilson of Keene called for the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to return the tracks in Warren and Essex counties to local control, arguing the storage plan was made possible by a “betrayal” by authorities.
“Now, the company intends to use this federally-granted authority to turn the Adirondack Park into a parking lot for contaminated and unsafe tanker cars that pose a health risk to both the environment and surrounding communities,” Wilson said in a statement.
Wilson, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for New York’s 21st Congressional District, also called for Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-Willsboro) to “break her silence and finally take action to protect her constituents.”
“The Adirondack Park is not a junkyard, and the residents of the North Country deserve a voice in determining how our land is treated and protected,” said Wilson.
Stefanik said she was “very concerned” about the plan by Saratoga & North Creek Railway (SNCR), a subsidiary of the Chicago-based Iowa Pacific Holdings, to store up to 2,000 cars on the company-owned tracks.
“We’re working on a case with the (federal) DOT to answer some jurisdiction questions about what steps we can take at the federal level,” Stefanik told The Sun in a phone interview. “The DOT is waiting to hear about potential actions we can take.”
FADED PROSPECTS
The cars have been cleaned and do not present an environmental threat, according to the railway.
Storage of the decommissioned cars is necessary to serve as a financial bridge for the firm after plans to use the tracks to ignite the local economy failed to materialize.
Passenger revenue is sagging, and plans to transport up to 500,000 tons of titanium tailings from National Lead in Tahawus annually to downstate refinement centers for use in high-tech companies never came to fruition.
At the crux of the storage debate is justification.
SNCR has brushed off calls by state agencies to submit jurisdictional inquiries, arguing the federal government has jurisdiction over the railways.
But environmental groups argue federal preemption of railways is not always absolute, and that storage constitutes a change in land use, raising further legal questions under Article 14 of the state constitution.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, too, is against the proposal, which sees the cars stored alongside the Hudson and Boreas Rivers, the epicenter of new recreational investments in the region.
STB was granted authority and jurisdiction over the line in 2012 when it granted SNCR common carrier status, allowing the company to reopen the Sanford Lake Railway.
State and federal officials were effusive at the time, including U.S. Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles Schumer. The senators from New York pinned the region’s economic fortunes to the freight business as one that would ensure a year-round economy along the corridor.
Those officials also pushed for the extension of federal tax credits, and said the railway would have curbed traffic from heavy trucks, reducing emissions in the process.
But SNCR President Ed Ellis said when it came time to pay for rebuilding and reopening the line between Saratoga Springs and Tahawus, which cost $1.2 million, county and federal officials balked at the price tag.
“So Saratoga and North Creek bore the massive multi-million dollar cost,” Ellis wrote in an email. “And now we are simply storing railroad cars on railroad track to recover some of that cost.”
Iowa Pacific Holdings also operates a 40-mile section of track between Saratoga and North Creek, which it leases from Warren County and the Town of Corinth. Storage is prohibited under the terms of the leases.
If the state doesn’t want to see unused rail cars, said Ellis, then they should invest in the lines and help cement a sustainable business model.
“There is an opportunity for the state, county and federal government to also eliminate storage by investing in the line, and by funding the investment we have already made, and we are open to that discussion,” Ellis said.
Green groups, including the Adirondack Council, say appealing to the STB may be their best bet for killing the storage plan.
The Adirondack Council welcomed Stefanik’s interest.
“We would love to see her get involved,” said John Sheehan, a spokesman. “We believe the federal government can be of assistance in this case. They have federal authority over railroads, and this is an issue facing her district.”
Three shipments totaling 62 cars have arrived for storage this month, according to Protect the Adirondacks, an environmental group that is closely monitoring developments.
