Politics & Government

Greater Elkridge Residents Displeased With Sen. Mikulski's Response

Activists against an intermodal facility say they are disappointed with what they called Mikulski's lack of responsiveness to their concerns.

Hanover residents who wrote to Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-MD, for help in fighting a proposed freight facility say they aren’t satisfied with her response.

Thirty-nine women signed the letter asking for the senator’s help in steering CSX away from their neighborhood, where the railroad company is considering building a train-truck cargo transfer station.

“I thought she would fight for our homes, not CSX,” said Cathy Bayne, one of three women who coauthored the letter.

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Her neighborhood abuts the site at Hanover and Race Roads, which is one of four locations CSX and Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) are evaluating. The other three sites are at Montevideo Road, Brock Bridge Road and Beltsville.

In their letter, the greater Elkridge residents said the station—called an "intermodal facility" because it is where trains and trucks exchange freight containers—would have a negative impact on their quality of life.

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“Already, homes in our neighborhoods are not selling simply by virtue of the threat of the [intermodal facility],” the letter said, and “the inevitable diesel pollution from the trains and trucks is exceptionally hazardous to the health of those living nearby.”

In her response, Mikulski said that there was a system in place to address the residents’ concerns.

“The federal environmental process that is being used to evaluate the potential sites requires that the factors to be considered include impacts to the environment, as well as impacts to the neighboring communities, including noise, traffic, appearance and residents’ rights to enjoy their homes and property,” stated the letter from the senator.

Residents said they are not convinced that this process—called the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)—is adequate.

“We need real answers to our questions, not referrals to an ,” said Pam Bertrand, one of the letter's coauthors, in an email to Patch.

Robyn Winder, who also helped pen the letter, said that Mikulski's response was “disappointing, at the very least."

Winder has been researching intermodal proposals as part of the Greater Elkridge Community Association's intermodal committee and said the NEPA process does not dictate where the intermodal facility will go.

"The major take-away I have from my discussions with [Barbara Rudnick, the NEPA team leader for this region] is that NEPA...has no enforcement authority to tell anyone—CSX, FRA, MDOT—where to build or, more to the point, where not to build," said Winder.

Rudnick said as much to Winder in an email: "NEPA does not require selection of the alternative with the least environmental impact, only disclosure..." said Rudnick, who works for the Environmental Protection Agency.

Instead of Hanover and Race Roads—where there are 365 homes within one-quarter mile—the residents cited in their letter what they saw as a more viable site: “…The Jessup option [at Brock Bridge Road near MD 175] is on state-owned land that formerly housed a prison and where no residences are within a quarter mile."

Mikulski said she was forwarding the residents' letter to CSX, MDOT and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), agencies the residents have contacted.

"I would also encourage you and other interested citizens in Howard County to continue to communicate with CSX, MDOT and FRA directly to insure that your voices are considered during the decision-making process," said Mikulski in her letter.

"I am extremely disappointed in the generic response," said Bayne. "I had thought maybe Sen. Mikulski would like to get on board with our cause."


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