Local Train Controversy Gathers Momentum on Statewide Broadcast

The proposal to build a train-truck cargo transfer station in the Elkridge area has generated controversy among everyone from to , and now the conversation has made it to the state spotlight.

On Wednesday morning, WYPR—an NPR affiliate station—broadcast a story on the intermodal proposal as part of its 9 a.m. show, Maryland Morning with Sheilah Kast.

The story on the cargo transfer station had appeal because of its widespread impact, said Lawrence Lanahan, senior producer of the radio show on 88.1 FM that draws more than 250,000 weekly listeners from Baltimore, Frederick, the Eastern Shore and southern Maryland.

“This is in Jessup, it’s in Elkridge….It involves a major company in Maryland—CSX—and involves a major agency [Maryland Department of Transportation],” he said.

The $150 project is a public-private partnership between CSX Transportation and Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT). It will be what some CSX officials have termed a "rest stop" for trains as they pick up additional cargo loads or transfer them to trucks. There, electric cranes will stack freight containers on top of another, which isn't feasible farther north because the stacks can't fit through the Howard Street tunnel at that height.

CSX is currently eyeing four areas—Hanover, Jessup (), Anne Arundel County (Brock Bridge Road), and Beltsville—for the cargo operation.

Putting a large-scale facility with substantial truck traffic near residential neighborhoods that lack road systems to support it has been a source of contention in the three counties where it has been proposed: Anne Arundel, Prince George's and Howard. Residents have also voiced concern about the environmental impact. 

In covering the story, WYPR put out a call to residents living near the four sites.

“We got, I’m sure, 30 comments [people calling in]—it may be more than we’ve ever had,” said Lanahan.

Louis Renjel, the vice president of strategic infrastructure initiatives for CSX, said on the broadcast that the freight operation would position the port of Baltimore for growth as the Panama Canal widens in 2014.

“The facility will handle two flows of traffic, so to speak,” said Renjel. Trains and trucks would deliver cargo from the port, he said, but the area would also serve as a distribution hub.

In April, the there would be 900 trucks visiting the facility daily.

On the WYPR broadcast, residents near two of the four proposed sites said diesel fumes were of particular concern.

“There are seven streams on the site,” said Kurt Scheffenacker, who lives near the Beltsville property, which is zoned as agricultural. “The area would no longer be wetland…” if an intermodal facility were built.

Robyn Winder of Hanover said the freight transfer stations were “behemoths that pump pollution and noise constantly.” She said that she didn’t believe the was going to lead to selecting one with the least impact.

Before the show’s conclusion, Kast pointed out that some wanted the facility nearby.

“This is an important part of a global economy,” said Dennis Lane, senior vice president of Ryan Commercial Real Estate in Columbia. Lane lives in Ellicott City, approximately 10 miles from the sites proposed in Howard and Anne Arundel Counties and 20 from the one in Beltsville. He is the leasing agent for a building within half a mile of the Brock Bridge Road site.

The CSX official said that he was aware of the various perspectives and noted that the project was in its early stages.

“We’re really in the first inning of the ballgame, so to speak,” said Renjel. “Ultimately, the federal government will make a decision on where it is. Secondly, we’ll have to seek public funding. And, finally, there will be local and state permits we’ll have to receive to build the facility.”

Kast reached out to MDOT for comment, but "MDOT said, 'You’ll get better answers from CSX,'" said Lanahan. He noted that WYPR will continue covering the issue. “This is one of these things, like the Red Line, that goes through so many iterations...we will check in here and there."