IDLING TRAINS
Montauk Residents Tired Of LIRR Noise

Suffolk Life - August 20, 2003

BY LAURA MGRDICHIAN

Last week the Montauk Anti-Pollution Coalition, a group of Montauk residents and business owners, delivered a petition and legal papers to the Long Island Rail Road demanding an end to noise pollution and other LIRR activities at the Montauk station.

The MAP Coalition claims that the LIRR needlessly leaves its trains idling during the day and overnight, creating a loud, constant noise that is causing property values to drop, causing hotel and motel owners to lose business and generally disrupting the otherwise beautiful Montauk area. The noise, they say, is "extreme, unreasonable" and a "serious nuisance."

In an extensive report, which includes the signatures of more than 1,000 Montauk residents, the MAP Coalition states that the LIRR stores up to seven trains at the Montauk station, a number of which, they say, "provide no Montauk service and are stored at the railhead as a matter of convenience to the LIRR." In the past the LIRR has stopped the practice' but has lately resumed it.

The coalition further states, from information obtained by the trains' manufacturer, that the idling of the trains' engines is unnecessary at temperatures above 30 degrees and that, below 30, other methods are available that would avoid idling, such as a diesel-driven heating system that has been approved by the Environmental Protection Agency.

In addition to the noise, the coalition criticized the condition of the station area, "a shabby one-story structure, which appears to function as a temporary resting place for employees and may also be used as storage." They complain that the area is garbage-strewn, contains rusting equipment and overflowing dumpsters and maintains a "general run-down shanty-like appearance." They also cite several large drums, "which appear to contain some type of chemicals or petroleum products, stacked in a haphazard fashion alongside the tracks."

The report contains letters with similar complaints from the Montauk Citizens Advisory Council, Concerned Citizens of Montauk, Inc. and the coalition's lawyer, Russell Smith of the Montauk firm Smith, Doman & Shea.

There is also a letter from Janice Nessel, the general manager of the Montauk Manor resort, who contends that "the rental potential of ail the suites is negatively affected by the sound of the long-term idling' of LIRR diesel engines and regularly draw complaints from Manor guests." Many-of the guests, she said, "are outraged at the sound levels that go on throughout the night and usually demand a room change or a refund."

In response to the allegations and complaints, the LIRR issued this statement: "The Long Island Rail Road make every effort to reduce the sound coming from trains that are at Montauk Station awaiting their return trip. The LIRR has implemented procedures and has supervision monitoring the trains at Montauk to help limit the length of time that. trains idle at the station. We will continue to look for ways to reduce the sound coming from trains while they wait to leave the station."