Noise from trains is making life unbearable
Township officials to meet with train reps this week
BY KATHY CHANG
Staff Writer

WOODBRIDGE - Residents on Van Buren Street say that Sewaren is not the only place in town with noise problems from trains.

"The same trains that carry ethanol in Sewaren sit idle on the rail line 120 feet from my house," said John O'Brien, who has lived in the area for seven years. "The longest the trains have sat out there is six hours. It's intolerable."

The excessive noise from the trains that run on a track behind the Woodbridge Little League field has picked up within the last six months.

"It's intrusive," said O'Brien's next-door neighbor, Laura Schubert, who has lived in the area for 23 years. "There are at least seven to 10 trains that run day and night and sound their whistles unnecessarily long and loud as they cross Route 35. It may not be the coupling and uncoupling of [the Motiva rail cars] in Sewaren, but it's the trains' whistle and their idling."

Schubert said the noise has never been this bad.

"But in the last six months, we have been getting more and more trains, and they idle," she said. "A train sat out there overnight once, and they didn't shut off their engine. I got no sleep."

Although O'Brien and Schubert live on a dead-end street with only five houses, they say they are entitled to their quality of life.

"We can't be ignored," Schubert said. "We have gotten no calls back. Yes, I understand that we're dealing at a federal level, but call U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez. I'm always praying that the train doesn't come. This is not the way I want to live."

Ward 1 Councilman Charles Kenny said they have applied for quiet zones at four intersections with the Federal Railroad Administration.

"I've gotten many complaints from residents who live in the apartment buildings behind the main library to residents who live in the Barron Gate apartments on Rahway Avenue," Kenny said. "The quiet zones include intersections at Blair Road, Amboy Avenue, Rahway Avenue and Woodbridge Avenue. If this designation of quiet zones is granted, it will greatly reduce - if not altogether stop - the train whistle blowing."

O'Brien said he had enough when the trains disrupted a barbecue out on his deck on a nice summer August day.

"We all had to come in the house and turn on the air conditioning," he said. "Trains sat out there from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. There was no breeze that day, so it made the fumes from the diesel so bad."

O'Brien called the township health department the next day.

"I got no answer," he said. "Then I called them again on Aug. 21 and was told to speak to Romel Fernandez, the train inspector that was handling the issue. I called him on Aug. 29 and left a message. He never called me back."

Then O'Brien contacted Conrail.

"I spoke to Ron Wistowski who handles air-pollution issues," he said. "He was so helpful on the phone. And within days representatives from the state Department of Environmental Protection came out here. I spent two hours with them, and we walked the tracks. Lucky enough, there was a Conrail train inspector driving past. He told me the reason the trains idle is because the trains are too long for all of them to sit in the Metuchen train yard, so they idle at points.

O'Brien suggested that the trains should idle 200 feet back at mile post 13 where the overpass for Route 9 is near Woodbridge Center mall.

"It's an industrial area, and it won't intrude on anyone," he said. "I believe this will solve our problems. The train inspector called Conrail and put in the suggestion right in front of me. There was calm for two weeks, and then it went downhill from there."

Schubert, who sent an Oct. 11 e-mail to state Sen. and interim Mayor Joseph Vitale addressing residents' concerns about the noise, said they should not be making the calls.

"The town government should be making these calls with us," she said. "Someone has to be accountable and not at the cost of the residents."

More than 50 Sewaren residents came to an Oct. 17 Township Council meeting to voice their frustration with the train noise from the coupling and uncoupling of nearby Motiva Refinery rail cars.

Vitale and Kenny met with Motiva, Conrail and Norfolk-Southern representatives several weeks ago.

"We will meet with them again next week," Kenny said. "These problems are not going to be resolved overnight, but we believe they will be resolved when all parties sit down together in good faith and work out the proper solutions."

Motiva Enterprises LLC announced on Monday [Nov. 6] that they are going to expand their rail yard at Motiva's Sewaren refined products terminal.

"The proposed expansion will enable Motiva to deliver ethanol into the New York Harbor marketplace more efficiently by increasing the terminal's rail car handling capacity," said Stan Mays, spokesman for Motiva.

Ralph Otis, Motiva's Sewaren plant manager, said the expansion will reduce the frequency of the cars that go through Sewaren.

"The terminal is a 5-million-plus barrel refined products terminal that is strategically located to serve ethanol suppliers and consumers in the Northeast," Otis said. "The expansion of the rail facilities is needed to handle the growing demand for ethanol. Additionally, the expanded rail yard will be capable of handling two entire 80- to 100-rail car unit trains daily, which is the preferred method of transportation of ethanol suppliers and rail carriers."

Currently, the maximum number that the rail yard is capable of handling is 40 rail car unit trains daily, said Otis.

The ethanol tank cars are typically combined with other cargo carrying rail cars being hauled by the railroads and must be uncoupled outside the Motiva property before entering Motiva's rail yard facility, he said.

Otis is aware of the noise problem.

"We have talked to interim Mayor and state Sen. [Joseph] Vitale several times and he understands that the noise problem is not coming from us, but from Conrail and Norfolk-Southern," said Otis. "And how they address the noise problem is up to them. We believe that the expansion of our rail yard is positive to the community because the frequency of the cars will run through more efficiently."

Township Administrator Robert Landolfi and council President Patricia Osborne said they haven't seen plans of Motiva's expansion yet, but they said their No. 1 priority is to protect the residents' quality of life.

"My first objective is to make sure everything is done to help reduce or eliminate the problems for the residents," said Osborne. "And make sure they abide by the township's land-use ordinances."

Landolfi said Motiva, Conrail, and Norfolk-Southern have so far been cooperating with the township.

"They are saying the right things," he said. "They have been honest with us. We hope to work jointly to correct the issues for the residents."

Motiva is working to complete the rail yard expansion project in 2007.

"The necessary permits and approvals will be sought from the local Planning Board," said Otis.

Motiva Enterprises LLC, headquartered in Houston, Texas, is a refining and marketing joint venture owned by affiliates of Shell and Saudi Aramco. Motiva's marketing operations support a network of nearly 9,000 Shell-branded gasoline stations in the eastern and southern United States. Updates will be posted on the township's Web site at www.twp.woodbridge.nj.us.