http://www.addisonindependent.com/News/011606rail.html

Concerns raised about proposed rail system

January 16, 2006
By JOHN FLOWERS

MIDDLEBURY —Residents from the Halladay Road, Creek Road and Lower Foote Street areas turned out in force at a Jan. 12 public hearing in Middlebury to voice their concerns about a proposed rail spur that would run through their neighborhoods while linking the OMYA Inc. quarry with the Vermont Railway line at a point west of Otter Creek.

Officials from the Vermont Agency of Transportation (AOT) and the consulting firm MacFarland-Johnson Inc. unveiled what they said were the two leading options to link OMYA, and potentially other businesses, with Vermont Railway. The project — which would have to overcome major permitting and construction hurdles, and would require massive infusions of federal, state and private cash — is in part intended to reduce truck traffic through Brandon and Middlebury along the Route 7 corridor.

It’s a project that would be of particular help to OMYA, which has been trying to ramp up production at its limestone ore quarry off Foote Street. It was during the late-1990s that OMYA, a multi-national corporation, sought Act 250 permission to substantially increase the number of truck trips it could make down Route 7 south from Middlebury to its processing plant in Florence. But state officials in 1998 limited OMYA to 115 round trips per day, noting, in part, the negative effect the truck traffic was having on downtown Brandon.

That same year, the Vermont Legislature passed a bill requesting that the AOT and Vermont Rail study alternative transportation options from OMYA’s quarry to the rail line.

Together with consultants from MacFarland Johnson, the group studied 18 different options for moving OMYA’s product. Those options included rail spurs, trucks-to-rail proposals and conveyor-to-rail schemes.

On Thursday, AOT officials and consultants said they’d narrowed down the options to two:

• A rail spur that would begin at the Vermont Rail line and bridge the Otter Creek and Creek Road, continuing for around a half-mile on 14-foot-high trestles eastward, across Halladay Road and under Route 7 at a point between Standard Register and Foster Motors. From there, it would cross Lower Foote Street and head north, into the OMYA quarry. There, a transfer station would be available for OMYA and other businesses to load their products.

Total length of the spur: approximately 3 miles.

• A truck-to-rail system that would begin as rail west of the Otter Creek. The rail tracks would bridge the Otter Creek and Creek Road and end, after approximately 3,500 feet, at a transfer station in what is now a farm field. There, trucks would transfer their cargo into the rail cars and head back up a road that would cross Halladay Road and go under Route 7, linking with the private OMYA quarry road that is located between Standard Register and Foster Motors.

Officials conceded they are still studying how the proposed rail or truck-to-rail route should cross Halladay Road and Lower Foote Street. MacFarland-Johnson consultant Gene McCarthy said bridges; at-grade crossings; and dead-ending the roads, are all options being considered.

“Nothing is set in stone at this stage,” said Jed Merrow, senior environmental analyst with MacFarland Johnson.

Sue Scribner, project manager for the AOT, said it will be “a number of years” before any project is designed, permitted and built. Because federal dollars will be sought for the project, it will need to move through a lengthy review and permitting process. It will not only require an Act 250 permit, but will have to meet the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act. Under this federal law, an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) must be prepared to assess the potential impacts of the project on social, environmental, economic and natural resources.

At the same time, proponents of the project will have to assemble the millions of dollars it would take to pull it off.

“This is very conceptual, at this point,” said Scribner, who added there would be multiple opportunities for neighbors to give their feedback.

That feedback has already started.

Many residents on Thursday asked why the project was being proposed in such a residential area; why it was being tailored to accommodate one primary user (OMYA); whether OMYA would pledge to exclusively use the rail spur, if it is built; how nearby residents would be spared from noise, air and light pollution; and whether the availability of a spur would cause other businesses to increase their truck traffic to Middlebury to access the new service.

“It’s the most convenient option for OMYA, but not the most convenient option for Vermonters,” said Halladay Road resident Mary Lower.

“It just doesn’t seem right to go through such a residential area, and an area that’s developing… ” she added. “I’m not going to be happy with OMYA.”

Erik Bohn, director of logistics for OMYA, said he could not promise the company would sign a letter saying it would stop using trucks if the spur were built. He said a temporary breakdown on the rail could force OMYA to switch back to trucks for a while. But Bohn did say the company has every intention of using the rail spur.

“Certainly, it is our intent to use it, if it is built,” Bohn said. “OMYA is committed to funding (a portion of) the project, as well.”