Pollution Investigation For Train Station Requested

East Hampton Star - January 1, 2004

BY JANIS HEWITT

The Montauk group created early last summer to persuade the Long Island Rail Road to shut down the engines of trains parked for long periods at the station on Edgemere Road, announced on Monday that it would ask for an investigation by the State Department of Environmental Conservation and the federal Environmental Protection Agency into soil and water pollution occurring there.

A report from the Montauk Anti-Pollution Coalition, which was formed by Tom Bogdan and John Craft, claims the railroad has failed to install and maintain proper on-site equipment. Mr. Bogdan said the coalition had found the response from railroad officials in August inadequate, calling it "a perfect example of their callous and uncaring policy"

The report says volunteers have monitored and photographed conditions at the station and discovered "critical new information proving the L.I.R.R. continues to needlessly subject the community of Montauk to unacceptable levels of noise and other pollution."

According to Mr. Bogdan, Montauk is the only terminal on Long Island that is not equipped with a wayside power unit, that allows trains to plug into cables to supply power to the passenger car climate control system, lights, and engine heaters that keep the trains ready for passengers without having to run their engines.

The report also states that Montauk is the only station without drip pans to collect leaking fluids, such as diesel fuel, oil, grease, or coolants, from parked trains. At other stations on Long Island fluids collect in a well under the pans and are then removed by an environmental service company Mr. Bogdan said.

The report points out that the station is close to Fort Pond, Tuthill Pond, and Fort Pond Bay, bodies of water that contain fish and waterfowl. It is also less than 40 yards away from a Suffolk Water Authority well and pumping facility and 500 yards away from a second pump.

In addition, the report states that the Montauk station is lacking in security. Hazardous wastes and barrels of Black Bear oil, which Mr. Bogdan called "one of the worst pollutants there is," are stored in an unlocked shed. The trains, he said, are left unattended for hours at a time. "I don't know what it takes to get into them or how you take off on them, but this is ridiculous."

The Metropolitan Transit Authority issued a statement on Tuesday reiterating that the railroad will continue to look for ways to reduce the sound while the trains wait to leave the station.

"If the Montauk Anti-Pollution Coalition has other concerns that they would like the L.I.R.R. to address, they should provide that information directly to the railroad so that it can be reviewed," the statement said.

In August, the group had sent a letter of complaint to Peter Kalikow, the chairman of the M.T.A. and a part-time Montauk resident, and a petition with 1,000 signatures asking for relief from the "intolerable noise" produced by the idling engines.

Mr. Bogdan said volunteers had found that on one occasion, Sept. 14, an engine continued to run for some four to 12 hours. He suggested the railroad could use money from the Montauk fares, which have increased by over 400-percent since 1974, to upgrade conditions at the station. "All we are asking for is what everyone else gets," he said.

Copies of the report will be sent to State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. and Senator Kenneth P LaValle.