Environmental groups ask NJ Transit to probe pollution in Lackawanna Cutoff rail bed
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/0 ... nj_tr.html
By Philip Read/The Star-Ledger
January 13, 2010, 7:53PM
Two statewide environmental coalitions are warning that soil under the rail bed of the proposed Lackawanna Cutoff line in Morris, Sussex and Warren counties could be filled with carcinogens and want NJ Transit to investigate that possibility.
But NJ Transit officials contended there is no such evidence.
The Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions and New Jersey Highlands Coalition jointly warned yesterday a host of toxic compounds, possibly the result of decades of coal burning engines on that line, could be unearthed if construction proceeds.
David Peifer, Highlands project director for the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions, said coal burning from train engines may have left behind toxic materials, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are known carcinogens. He contended the soil under the rail beds is filled with coal ash, cinders and lead.
lackawanna-cutoff-contamination-njtransit.JPGMATT RAINEY/THE STAR-LEDGERThe Hainseburg Viaduct crosses the Paulinskill River in Hainseburg in a 2007 photo. The Lackawanna Cutoff includes the huge viaduct in Warren County, as well as various tunnels in Sussex and Warren.
Construction could unearth dangerous compounds in a rail bed mostly undisturbed for more than three decades, since trains last ran on the line, environmentalists said.
“The public needs to know that this project will be safe and will not threaten the health of anyone living nearby. For all the public investment in this project, they need to make sure it won’t make us sick,â€