Rising Cacophony Over Idling Trains and Fumes

East Hampton Star - August 21, 2003

BY JANIS HEWITT

"Gentlemen stop your engines," is what a new group, the Montauk Anti Pollution Coalition, had to say about the Long Island Rail Road's idling deisels at the Montauk Station.

A band of Montauk residents has formed a committee, the Montauk Anti-Pollution Coalition, whose first goal is to get the Long Island Rail Road to turn off the diesel engines that idle at the train station on Edgemere Road.

Chaired by Tom Bogdan, with John Craft serving as president, the committee has collected over 1,000 names on a petition asking the railroad to cease and desist. Coalition members say the idling trains constitute a "psychological and physical" public nuisance.

The coalition has retained Russell Smith of Smith Doman and Shea of Montauk and Manhattan as its counsel, and has made a CD of the rumbling engines that are said to be disturbing people living near the station. Mr. Smith has written to Peter Kalikow, a part-time. Montauk resident who chairs the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, asserting that the idling trains violate state and local law and that a lawsuit may be filed if the situation is not resolved by other means.

Janice Nessel, the manager of the nearby Montauk Manor, has also written to the M.TA., saying that tenants have complained about the noise.

And William D. Akin, president of the 700-member Concerned Citizens of Montauk, wrote that he receives dozens of complaints each year about the noise and fumes, adding that the practice of letting the engines idle is an "obvious" waste of fuel.

Also on board with their support are the 35 members of the Montauk Citizens Advisory Committee, whose chairwoman, Lisa Grenci, calls the idling engines one of the "greatest threats" to Montauk's environment and quality of life,, The "endless idling cacophony created by the multiple number of trains stored at the Montauk station, the fumes created by this activity, and unnecessary whistle blowing has contributed to countless complaints by citizens," she wrote.

The train station and its "shanty-like" temporary buildings, overflowing garbage containers, old rusted equipment, and "suspicious" storage barrels create an ugly atmosphere, she complained, calling it an eyesore and an embarrassment to Montauk.

Sam Zambutto, a spokesman for the railroad's press office in Jamaica, issued a statement on Tuesday saying that the railroad "makes every effort to reduce the sound coming from the trains at the Montauk station awaiting their return trip," as well as limiting the length of time trains are left to idle. "We will continue to look for ways to reduce the sound coming from trains while they wait to leave the station," he said.

Yesterday Mr. Bogdan called the railroad's statement "a perfect example of their callous and uncaring policies in the area of public affairs and responsibility."

It was typical, he said, of an organization that considers itself too large and politically insulated to be concerned about its "flagrant and anti-environmental activity to the ecological integrity of Montauk."