The state Department of Environmental Protection (Mass DEP) is demanding that Pan Am Railways and Boston & Maine Corp. pay $60,000 in penalties for repeated solid waste violations — for leaving abandoned railroad ties along the tracks in both Northfield and Buckland.
According to Mass DEP, railroad violations go back to 1999, when Mass DEP observed thousands of ties that Pan Am and B&M railways had abandoned along a 7.5-mile stretch of track within the Wachusett Reserve watershed, between Sterling and West Boylston.
“In both recent cases, the management of the ties is in violation of the approved management plan and solid waste regulations,” said DEP spokesman Edmund J. Coletta Jr. “As a result, Mass DEP is also requiring Pan Am and B&M to come into compliance with the agreement.”
“This has been a continuing conversation with the railroad, and to date, their response has been completely inadequate,” said Michael Gorski, director of Mass DEP’s West Regional Office in Springfield. “It is critical that Massachusetts businesses manage their waste in a manner that does not present an increased risk to the health and safety of the public or first-responders.”
Earlier this month, the Buckland Board of Health met to discuss what actions could be taken, especially since the tracks lie along the river. On June 13, a fire on old railroad ties in Northfield brought firefighters from 11 towns.
Also, there were two separate fires in Whately and Deerfield in 2016, when old ties in rail cars ignited.
Other cases cited by Mass DEP included the following:
• In Feb. 2007, Mass DEP observed several piles of abandoned railroad ties along the tracks on the upper banks of the Deerfield River in Charlemont. Three months later, the agency ordered Pan Am and B&M to address the ties and assessed a penalty to them for these violations. Pan Am and B&M later appealed the penalty and violations.
• In 2013, with help from the attorney general’s office, Pan Am and B&M entered a consent agreement to resolve the violations and establish protocols for proper management of railroad ties. They paid a $49,746 penalty, with Mass DEP suspending $10,000 of the penalty. The management protocols allow for temporary staging of used ties for recycling. It stipulates conditions, limits storage periods and requires storage of ties to minimize fire hazards.
• In 2015, Mass DEP was notified of three fires involving discarded railroad ties. One was April 19 in Buckland, one was in Athol on May 8, and a third was in Holyoke on Nov. 24.
The remaining ties in Northfield, after the June 13 fire, continue to be a fire hazard, as do the remaining ties in Buckland, according to Coletta.
In both recent cases, the handling of the ties is in violation of approved management plan and solid waste regulations. It is also a failure to comply with the consent agreement. Mass DEP is also requiring the railroads to come into compliance with the agreement.
Northfield and Buckland officials are pleased to see Mass DEP take action.
“We’re certainly hopeful this eliminates their stockpiling of these railroad ties,” Northfield Selectboard Chairman Jack Spanbauer said. “We’re glad to get the support from DEP to resolve this situation.”
However, the news proved to be bittersweet for those wondering if a $60,000 fine will curb Pan Am and B&M’s dumping.
“I suspect this isn’t enough,” began Northfield Selectwoman Julia Blyth, “for the amount of dumping there is, not only in Northfield and Buckland, but I know there are other towns effected up and down their lines.”
“Personally, I would like to see them fined a lot more,” said Glen Ayers, health agent for the Cooperative Public Health Service operated through the Franklin Regional Council of Governments.
Ayers, the health agent for eight towns including Buckland, explained he’d like to see money set aside through the settlement to employ someone to create an inventory of dumping, assess the situation, review plans for addressing the problem and oversee remediation by Pan Am and B&M.
“A lot of times when there’s a settlement, part of the agreement is to put money into a position or a fund, which will fund specific types of monitoring and environmental remediation,” he explained. “This is very common for settlements. I would like to see a position created at (Connecticut River Conservancy) or even at FRCOG to have a person deal with this, because it is a regional problem.”
“This didn’t happen overnight, and it’s not going to get fixed quickly,” Ayers continued. “It’s not going to get fixed if nobody’s watch dogging it.”
The Buckland Board of Health resolved earlier this month to meet with state Reps. Stephen Kulik and Paul Mark, state Sen. Adam Hinds and state Senate President Stanley Rosenberg about the problem. Ayers said the board has met with Hinds’ aide, and will continue to work with elected officials.
“I’m happy to see the DEP is pursuing this, but I think there needs to be a bigger solution to this problem and we’re going to keep working on it,” he said.
Pan Am spokeswoman Cynthia Scarano could not be reached in time for comment.