Mike Arnold: Simple truth about freight, SMART
Staff Report
Article Launched: 04/07/2008 12:03:23 AM PDT
Mike Arnold
SONOMA-MARIN Area Rail Transit’s draft supplemental environmental impact report identifies significant impacts associated with the combined operations of freight and passenger trains in Marin and Sonoma counties.
These impacts, as noted in quotes from the document, include:
- Freight trains will operate at night. According to the supplemental report, nighttime operations will occur because “the freight operator may nevertheless opt to run freight trains at night for independent operational needs.” If there are 16 freight trains per day, as the report says may occur, a much larger number of freight trains would be forced into nighttime operation and disturb sleeping residents.
- If the North Coast Railroad Authority succeeds in implementing its strategic plan, there is a significant increase in cancer risk, associated with diesel fumes, for residents living near the track. The report states, “the localized concentrations along tracks with up to 16 pass-bys per day É could result in health risks of more than 10 excess cancer cases per million for locations near the tracks.”
- An increase in noise levels near the track is significant and unavoidable. “Future combined passenger and freight operations would result in a permanent increase in ambient noise levels in some segments for sensitive receptors within 50 feet of the tracks.”
- Long trains will cause delays at the 61 at-grade crossings in Sonoma County and the seven in Novato. The NCRA proposal specifies 60-car trains. However, if the NCRA’s freight operator is successful in obtaining access to Island Mountain Quarry in Trinity County or Eureka builds the proposed container port, the number of long trains could be far larger.
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