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Apr 9, 2018

AMTRAK to Rockland plan would use loudest, worst polluting RR engines allowed.

From an alert sent out by RENEW Rockland, 

The Amtrak Downeaster service has been proposed to extend to Rockland.   AT ISSUE that the Amtrak trains that would head to Rockland are dirtier worse polluters

According to local environmental NGO Renew Rockland, and the US EPA they would be some of the oldest and dirtiest trains allowed by law. Further, they will bring  significant noise, fumes and vibrations to the Rockland residential neighborhood that they will terminate in.

Dirty Engines US EPA regulates emissions from locomotives It has 5 tiers of emission standards that a train must meet - Tiers 0 though 4. The Amtrak trains that they will run to Rockland are Tier 0: the worst. 

 RENEW Rockland has been voicing concerns for sev eral months about the dirty trains  Including Rockland city councilors and the City Manager.

"Everyone who we’ve spoke with has expressed understanding and agreement that these are serious concerns." a member of Renew Rockland said.  But we have just found out that the City Council, by way of our City Manager, has sent a letter to the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority (NNEPRA) expressing the City's“full support” of the new service. 

"There is no mention of idling concerns in this letter - there is no request for mitigation of impact from noise or fumes — nothing at all has been asked from this company, in return for the City’s support" The Renew Rockland said. 

There has also been no commitment made by NNEPRA to take any steps to limit exposure to residents from fumes or noise. They have not even committed to follow similar, and minimal, protocol that the Eastern service had (backing out of the residential neighborhood in between pick-up/drop-off of passengers) to ensure that any idling is kept to a minimum. 

There are some very simple steps that they could take to significantly cut down on residential exposure — and with relatively minor investment they could greatly reduct impact —  but unless the City makes requirements of their operation, we are left with little to no protection or regulations to protect us from impact on our health and homes.

Concerned about the lack of public process in regards to this issue? — please send a letter to council (you can send it to Stuart Sylvester our City Clerk : ssylvester@rocklandmaine.gov ).

Also  The NNEPRA board is seeking public comment for the February 26th board meeting. **** Please consider writing them a letter if you have any concerns at all about this service that you would like to see addressed, please email the board directly (below) and ‘cc the Executive Director, Patricia Quinn (Patricia@nnepra.com).

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1 comment:

  1. Unknown5:13 PM

    We should outfit the trains with Electric Motors from Tesla or elsewhere and high energy density State of the Art Batteries [Lithium Ion, Manganese, Sodium or other new high density chemistries] Thin Film Solar Panels can be attached to the roofs and outside walls of the train which would recharge the batteries during daylight hours. Vertical Axis Wind turbines could also be placed in convenient places which would recharge the batteries while the vehicle was in motion. Solar powered charging stations could be used at stops when the train was out of service to keep the batteries charged.

    An electric battery powered train would not have harmful emissions..... It would be a great thing for the area.

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