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Thanks to Gardner and county for acting on Marotta dumpsite
CAROL DUCHESNE Pattersonville

   The people of Pattersonville owe a huge debt of gratitude to the Schenectady County Legislature, and especially to county attorneys Christopher Gardner and Donald DeAngelus, for their conscientious pursuit of the clean-up of a safety and health hazard in Pattersonville.
   The Marotta property on Route 5S has long been a source of complaints As secretary to the Board of Fire Commissioners of Fire District #4, I filed a written complaint on that group’s behalf with the town of Rotterdam in May 1990 concerning a badly deteriorated house. More complaints from the commissioners, followed in 1991, when the debris from the house was spread over the property and rusted construction equipment began to appear. Over the years more complaints, both written and verbal, were filed. In each instance, the town notified the property owner of violations, but little further action was taken until recently.
   In January 2006, more vehicles, tires, barrels, etc., were brought to the property. According to an article in the Gazette on June 1, Mr. [Michael] Marotta “. ..denied the site was an illegal junk yard.” I am not sure what else to call a property that was littered with tires in piles on the ground and in truck bodies, barrels with unknown contents, truck parts, debris and vehicles, some of which were rusted and had broken windows. In addition, Mr. Marotta pleaded guilty to running an illegal junk yard in Rotterdam Town Court in April. The county health department confirmed the area was being used as a junk yard in July 2006, and ordered a cleanup by December (Jan. 26 Gazette). For the last year and a half, the property owner has ignored every deadline that has been set for cleanup.
   It should be noted that Pattersonville is served by a small volunteer fire department, staffed by residents who have dedicated many hours of their own time to rigorous training to be able to provide protection to their neighbors. They receive no compensation of any kind for their dedication to keeping us safe. Putting a high-risk property such as a junk yard so close to several homes in Pattersonville, is unfair to them. We are all thankful that Chris Gardner has been successful in removing this safety hazard from our area.  

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New concerns at old farm
Large mixed-use project proposed on banks of Mohawk across from historic Mabee site  
  
By JENNIFER PATTERSON, Staff writer
First published: Thursday, June 21, 2007

ROTTERDAM -- Historians and preservationists are concerned that a proposed 63-acre waterfront development planned for across the Mohawk River from the Mabee Farm will ruin the old-time charm and serenity of the historic site.
  
"We don't want it (the development) to wreck a historic view shed," former historical society president Kim Mabee said. "We want to protect our bucolic setting here at the farm, which has been the same for more than 300 years."

Members of the Schenectady County Historical Society and local preservation groups are concerned that the proposed development, which, if approved, would be built directly across the river from the farm, will negatively affect the site.

Delmar resident Ray Marshall wants to build 491 condominiums and town houses on land located about one mile east of the Route 103 connector to Rotterdam Junction. The property was once home to the Gay Valley Airport site in Glenville. Marshall could not be reached for comment.

The development would include a 2,300-square-foot marina, a 45,000-square-foot technology park, a 12,000-square-foot restaurant, a 2,500-square-foot clubhouse, hotel and banquet hall.

The Mabee Farm is the oldest standing home in the Mohawk Valley, bordering the banks of the Mohawk River on Route 5S. The farm is run by the Schenectady County Historical Society as an educational center for the community.

The site holds Colonial events, re-enactments, workshops, tours and educational programs reflecting the historical significance of the early farmstead. Members of the Historical Society are worried that such events won't be as effective if plans for the development are approved.

"This development is of major concern for the Mabee Farm and the residents of Schenectady County," said Neil Turner, president of Citizens Advocating Responsible Development, or CARD, a grass-roots opposition group in Glenville.

"The acreage that is proposed to be developed is on a flood plain, which serves as a surge reservoir, reducing the impact of sudden high flow levels. This is just one of numerous negative issues that are immediately apparent."

Marshall, who owns several apartment buildings in the Arbor Hill section of Albany, bought much of the land for the proposed site along Route 5 last year. Marshall has hired an architecture firm, Synthesis LLP of Schenectady, but his proposed Glencove Harbor development is still in the preliminary stages and faces a long list of hurdles, including approval from the town of Glenville, before plans can move forward. Jennifer Patterson can be reached at 454-5340 or by e-mail at jpatterson@timesunion.com.

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Delmar resident Ray Marshall wants to build 491 condominiums and town houses on land located about one mile east of the Route 103 connector to Rotterdam Junction. The property was once home to the Gay Valley Airport site in Glenville. Marshall could not be reached for comment.

The development would include a 2,300-square-foot marina, a 45,000-square-foot technology park, a 12,000-square-foot restaurant, a 2,500-square-foot clubhouse, hotel and banquet hall.

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ROTTERDAM
Heat sparks watering restrictions
Town reserves dangerously low; system upgrades cited
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter
Reach Gazette reporter Justin Mason at 395-3113 or jmason@dailygazette.net.

   Rotterdam officials temporarily tightened summer watering restrictions Wednesday, after low-water level alarms were touched off twice this week.
   Residents will be prohibited from watering lawns during the evening hours with the Rotterdam Police strictly enforcing the ban, according to a release from the town. The augmented restrictions will continue until Sunday, when the ordinary schedule will resume.
   Supervisor Steve Tommasone said the town pumped more than 8.7 million gallons of water Monday and nearly 5.5 million on Tuesday. The result has been a depletion of the total 5 million gallon stored water in the town’s six storage tanks.
   “The pumps we have are working nonstop the last few days,” he said. “If we can have residents not water in the evenings just for a dew days, it can allow us to get the tanks back up to normal levels.”
   Tommasone said the restrictions are to ensure the town has enough capacity in the event of an emergency. He said the normal pattern for watering is likely to return after the heat wave breaks this weekend.
   “We have to be careful from a [fire district] perspective,” he said. “These levels are getting very low.”
   Water Plant Supervisor Clark Collins said the town uses about 3.5 million gallons on average. But as soon as the heat cranks up this usage often increases by 5 million gallons.
   “That extra 5 million gallons we’re pumping is basically for outdoor use,” he said.
   To control this extra usage, town rules only allows watering from 7 to 9 a.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. between May and September. But with the increased restrictions this week, only even-numbered house numbers will be permitted to water in the morning today and Saturday, with odd numbered houses allowed to water in the morning Friday and Sunday.
   Were residents to abide by the ordinary restrictions, Collins said there probably wouldn’t be a problem with the storage supply. But often times, he said the summer watering hours are ignored.
   “You can hear the sprinklers running [after the hours],” he said.
LARGER ISSUE
   Tommasone said the recent shortage isn’t uncommon for the time of year, but that it shows the need for Rotterdam to upgrade its water infrastructure in certain areas. For instance, Rotterdam Junction’s water supply isn’t connected to the rest of the town’s system, so that any pump failure there could cause significant troubles during an emergency or peak usage time.
   “If that tank goes down, there’s no way to get water to the Junction,” he said.
   The town is planning to replace Rotterdam Junction’s decades-old tank off Leggerio Lane before the end of the year. Cost estimates to replace the 200.000-gallon tank are between $1.4 million and $2.1 million, which would be raised through bonding and paid for by the 577 users in water districts 3 and 4, according to figures presented by the town in February.
   In addition to connecting Rotterdam Junction, Tommasone said the town has preliminary approval to reconnect a similar hookup that once existed with the city of Schenectady. He said such a hookup could deliver water to the town in the event of rupture or failure somewhere in Rotterdam’s system.
   “We cannot push these upgrade off to future years,” he said. “Our water system is something that is imperative to upgrade.”  

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MABEE FARM FESTIVAL
   ROTTERDAM JUNCTION — The Mabee Farm Historic Site will host a free two-day music festival as part of the regional celebration of Canal Fest 2007 on July 14 and 15.
   Folk balladeer Rich Bala will perform at 11 a.m. followed by Red Molly at 12:30 p.m.
   The bluegrass band The Riverview Ramblers will play at 2 p.m., followed by Sara Milonovich and Greg Anderson at 3:30. Sunday’s lineup will include Mooncat, Kevin & Katie McKrell, The Ramblin’ Jug Stompers and Bill Staines at 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 2 p.m. and 3:30, respectively.
   Music workshops will be offered by the performers.
   There will also be a hay ride, an exhibit on Recreation on the Mohawk River, artisans, and the building of the 1614 boat the Onrust.

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New engineer for water tank plan
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter

   Rotterdam Town Board members approved a $14,100 contract with Barton & Loguidice Wednesday to complete a design for a proposed 520,000-gallon water tank in Rotterdam Junction. The study will investigate placing the new structure near either the town’s well head on Main Street or on land off Pattersonville-Rynex Corners Road.
   Lamont Engineering already conducted a preliminary cost and time
ROTTERDAM
analysis for the project. But after receiving these results, town offi - cials decided to expand the scope of the study.
   “We’re changing the focus a bit, but the goal is the same,” explained Supervisor Steven Tommasone.
   Once the study is completed, the company will send mailers out to the 577 users in water districts 3 and 4, who will ultimately pay for the tank through bonding. Estimates to replace the aging tank were originally placed between $1.4 million and $2.1 million.
   Board member Robert Godlewski was the sole vote against hiring a new company. He questioned the logic of changing engineering companies now.
   But Tommasone said expanding the scope was necessary to move the project forward promptly.
O’CLAIRS HONORED
   In other business, the town board presented Rotterdam’s fi rst Outstanding Citizen Award to the O’Clair family for waging a campaign to pass Timothy’s Law. Signed into law last year, the legislation requires insurance companies to cover mental disorders as they cover other medical disorders.
   Accepting the award was Tom O’Clair, whose 12-year-old son Timothy committed suicide after being diagnosed with a mental illness his family’s medical insurance would not cover. He thanked the board members, as well as the town for standing behind the family’s plight to get the law passed.
   “It truly felt like we had the whole town behind us,” he said.

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Board member Robert Godlewski was the sole vote against hiring a new company. He questioned the logic of changing engineering companies now.

Quoted from bumblethru

It's just that he is always so incredibly negative and depressing and placing a damper on anything pro-active, that it is sometimes quite difficult to know when he may have a point. I usually just don't listen to him. He'll be gone in a few months anyways.

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ROTTERDAM
American Indian group staging major fundraiser
BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter
Reach Gazette reporter Michael Lamendola at 395-3114 or lamend@dailygazette.com.

   Keepers of the Circle will hold a major fundraiser Saturday and Sunday at its Route 5S site in Rotterdam Junction.
   Keepers, a nonprofit organization formed in 1991 in Albany to promote American Indian culture, is hoping to raise enough money through the event to keep afloat as it continues to build membership and expand its programs.
   Keepers has held numerous small events to raise money. The weekend fundraiser, however, is its first major event since a new board of directors assumed leadership this year, said adviser Tim Christian.
   The event will feature drumming, dancing, singing, storytelling, flute music and native foods. Vendors have been invited, and the Keepers will offer tours.
   The Mohegan Tribe and Nation is sponsoring the event, Christian said, helping to defray costs.
   “We are doing the best we can,” Christian said. “It’s like climbing a hill. We won’t stop ’til we get to the top and plant our flag.”
   The new board revamped Keepers, which had been riven by infighting for years, and quickly mended relations with the Schenectady County Historical Society, owner of the neighboring Mabee Farm, and with the county.
   The county purchased the 29-acre parcel on Route 5S for $171,000 in 2000 but gave Keepers control over it. Keepers was supposed to develop and offer programs to promote American Indian culture and the historical aspects of the Mohawk River. None of this occurred due to infighting within the group.
   Earlier this year, the county agreed to give Keepers 2.6 acres and the Bradt farmhouse in Rotterdam Junction and to sell the remaining 27 acres to the historical society for $180,000.
   The closing has yet to occur, but historical society President Edwin Reilly Jr. expects that to happen in August.
   Christian said Keepers of the Circle only needs a small piece of property to fulfill its mission.
   “We want to be a Native American multicultural center. We want to teach all cultures here, and we want to learn all cultures here,” he said.
   Since February, Keepers has repainted and insulated the Bradt House, restocked the museum with American Indian artifacts and curios and provided local school children with several educational programs. Keepers also received permission from the Albany Food Pantry to begin providing emergency food at the site.
   “We will do outreach from Rotterdam Junction to Route 30,” Christian said. The food pantry will distribute food two days a week, he said.
   Keepers will assume full financial responsibility for the Bradt House and property from the county once the land transfer is completed. The county pays annual utility costs, totaling about $9,000.
   Keepers is a registered nonprofi t organization with the state and accepts donations, Christian said. Membership is open to anyone; dues are $25 annually.
   Keepers applied for a county tourism grant this year but was turned down. Grant Director Wendy Hosking Glasser said Keepers’ application failed to score well because the organization had to show that it had existing community support in terms of membership, subscribers and attendance, that it was working in collaboration with other organizations and that it was generating additional private or other funds.
   She said Keepers can apply for another grant in the next funding cycle.
   Reilly said the historical society is standing by its pledge to provide financial and in-kind support to Keepers during its first year of operation. The society purchased 40 tickets for the July 21-22 event and promises more assistance once the land transfer is completed.
   The society needs the additional land for its proposed George E. Franchere Educational Center. The center will straddle the 9-acre Mabee Farm parcel and the soon-to-be acquired Keepers property.
   “We have to complete our design and bring it to the Rotterdam Planning Board. We have our zoning permits,” Reilly said.
   “Next spring is when you will see a structure rising there. We are still raising money to finish the project.”
   He said the society has collected three-fourths of the estimated $2 million cost of the center.  

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ROTTERDAM JUNCTION
Keepers of Circle celebrate ‘peace, harmony, balance’
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter
Reach Gazette reporter Justin Mason at 395-3113 or jmason@dailygazette.net.

   When Tim Christian saw eagles flying overhead at the Bradt farmhouse this weekend, he knew peace had at last come to the Keepers of the Circle.
   The advisor and mediator of the Keepers gazed across the recently acquired property as sunshine bathed a procession of American Indian dancers and artists gathered there this weekend. The essence of burning cedar wafted on a cool breeze, as a lone drummer pounded on a drum Sunday.
   “It shows peace in the valley,” he said during the Keepers’ fi rst major fundraiser since the group reorganized. “Peace, harmony and balance.”
   The nonprofit organization was formed in 1991 to promote American Indian culture, but had fallen into turmoil in recent years. The group revamped its leadership and then orchestrated a deal with Schenectady County and the Historical Society in which they obtained the historic farm house and 2.6 acres of land.
   Previously, they had maintained control over a 29-acre countyowned parcel off land along Route 5S. Under the deal, the county sold about 27 acres of this land to the historical society, giving the remaining parcel and house to the Keepers.
   Christian said the group is now renovating the home, which will serve as a museum and learning center for American Indian culture. He said events such as the gathering this weekend will help fund such endeavors.
   “It’s a good outreach program for the community,” he said.
   As a measure of good faith, the Schenectady County Historical Society donated $200 to the Keepers. Christian said the historical society has also indicated a willingness to help the Keepers during their fi rst year owning the property.
   Christian said the group hopes to raise about $40,000 a year to offer programs on the property. By next fall, he said the group plans to contact area school districts to gauge interest in their educational programs.
   The group is also seeking placement on a national list of pow wows. Christian said such a designation could bring droves of people to the property.
   “This could be three or four times this size,” he said of the event’s modest turnout.
   Stephen Shepard, also known as Grandfather Eagle Bear, said the weekend event shows the keepers have mended their group after years of neglect. He said the group is now showing dedication to its true purpose: keeping American Indian heritage and tradition alive among the youth.
   “We’re here to help the children,” he said.
   Attending the event this weekend was Moigu Standing Bear, chief of the Mohegan Tribe and Nation, which sponsored the gathering. Standing Bear lauded the Keepers for re-energizing their group.
   “This organization like any organization has had its ups and downs,” he said, “Right now, they’re here to make this organization as strong as it possibly can be.”
   Bryant Miller, a longtime member of the group, said he’s watched the Keepers rise from tumult before. Donning a Mohawk Indian headdress, he said the Keepers’ fi rst large gathering was another sign that peace had finally reached the group. “Today is a day of peace,” he said.

PETER R. BARBER/GAZETTE PHOTOGRAPHER
Members of Girl Scout Troop 277 of Cohoes learn how to keep the beat on a drum made from a tortoise shell with Zelda Hotaling, of Castleton, who was teaching the scouts how to make rattles and dance sticks during the Native American Indian Festival at Keepers of the Circle in Rotterdam Junction on Sunday.

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EARLY TECHNOLOGY
   ROTTERDAM JUNCTION — The Mabee Farm Historical Site, 1080 Main St., will present “Early Technologies Day” from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 4.
   The event will explain fire starting, leather tanning, quillwork, powder horn engraving, tinsmithing, blacksmithing, and more. There will be a hands-on flint knapping workshop and atlatl throwing with Barry Keegan. Representatives of The Van Epps Hartley Chapter of the New York State Archaeology Association will help identify native artifacts.

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OUTBOARD MOTOR SWAP
   ROTTERDAM JUNCTION — The Mabee Farm Historic Site, 1080 Main St., will host an antique outboard motor swap meet from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 18. Participants are invited to buy, sell or trade motors and parts. There will also be a display of antique motors. The event is sponsored by the Mohawk Hudson Chapter of the Antique Outboard Motor Club, Inc

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HISTORIC CRAFTS
   ROTTERDAM JUNCTION — The Mabee Farm Historic Site, Route 5S, will offer a workshop on making gourd birdhouses from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday .
   Instructor Pam Bucci will show participants how to decorate a dried bottle gourd using woodburning techniques, paints and stains. The fee for this program is $35.  

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CAR SHOW
   ROTTERDAM JUNCTION — The Schenectady East Rotary will present “Patriot’s Day” antique and classic car show from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Mabee Farm Historic Site on route 5S. Along with the classics and antiques, there will be muscle cars, trucks and motorcycles. Judging for pre-1987 cars will begin at 1 p.m., with trophies awarded at 3 p.m. There will also be music, food and games. Admission is free.

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HISTORY FAIR
   ROTTERDAM JUNCTION — The Mabee Farm Historic Site, Route 5S, will present a history fair from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
   Participants will meet “Joseph Yates,” the governor of New York in 1822, and “Samuel Meredith,” treasurer of the U.S. under George Washington. Other guest speakers will include historians Lion Miles, Emily Tarbell, Ona Curran and Al Sterling. Don Rittner, Schenectady County historian, will be available to videotape and record the memories of seniors in Schenectady County.

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ROTTERDAM
Kiwanis Park grant will improve toilets and other amenities
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter

   Ask Joe Nicolella what part of Rotterdam’s Kiwanis Park is most in need of improvement and it doesn’t take him long to find an answer.
   Like many visitors to the rolling green space along the Mohawk River, the Schenectady resident and member of Northern New York Paddlers canoe club has taken issue with the small cinder block and concrete outhouse near the entrance to the park.
   “Boy, they’re disgusting,” he said Monday from the park. “No one can use them.”
   Calling the facilities fetid is mild. With its stench and uncleanliness, the outhouse seems drastically out of place in the scenic grove of the town’s only waterfront park
   But with a $40,000 state grant secured, town officials are planning improvements, the foremost to include flush toilets. The town also anticipates renovating the park boat launch, paving the parking area, installing a drinking water source and improving the existing dock.
   “It’s one of the first amenities you see coming in from [Thruway] Exit 26 into Rotterdam Junction,” Supervisor Steve Tommasone said of the park. “It’s important that we have a showpiece there.”
   Originally constructed by the Rotterdam Kiwanis Club during the 1980s, the park off Route 5S rests on land owned by both the town and the state Canal Corporation. The park is heavily used by both boaters SCHENECTADY — An overon the Mohawk and people using the nearby bike-hike trail.
   Town officials first received the matching grant for the improvements from the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historical Preservation in July 2005. However, vague land records on the site prevented the town from moving forward with any improvements.
   “The records from when the state took over the land were so convoluted that certain title companies were uncomfortable with it,” said Gerard Parisi, the town’s attorney. With these issues now resolved, Tommasone said work is expected to begin early next month and carry on through the winter.
   Rotterdam’s highway department will complete most of the work, using town materials and equipment whenever possible. Tommasone said the labor and materials will represent Rotterdam’s share of the grant.
   Tommasone also envisions other improvements to the park that aren’t likely to be covered under the grant. For instance, there probably isn’t enough grant money to replace a trailer now used as a dock.
   “The $40,000 will go a long way for us, but we are probably going to request some additional funding [from the town],” he said.
   For area residents using the park Monday, word of the impending improvements was welcome news. Both Nicolella and fellow paddler Ray Smith lauded the idea of sprucing up the park they frequent almost every week.
   “It’s a small park, but it gets a lot of use,” Smith said.

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Rotterdam receives 40K park grant

Written by: Jessica Harding, Schenectady County Reporter
email: hardingj@spotlightnews.com

Rotterdam has received a $40,000 grant from the state office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation for improvements to Kiwanis Park in the western part of town.

The project will start this fall and include renovation of the boat launch, paving of the lawer parking area, dock improvements, upgraded restroom facilities, potable water, better signage and a handicap fishing area.

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   MARC SCHULTZ/GAZETTE PHOTOGRAPHER
Lower Rotterdam Junction resident Dan Dedrick says the smoke from idling trains hangs over the bike/hike trails, infiltrates his neighborhood and at times makes it unpleasant to be outdoors. At the nearby train yard, trains sometimes sit for days with engines running.
ROTTERDAM JUNCTION
Residents sound off over idling engines
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter

   On some days, Dan Dedrick can see a haze hovering above the waters of East and West ponds near the old Erie Canal towpath.
   The two man-made pools are surrounded by 78 acres of lush vegetation and provide an ideal spot for outdoor recreation during the summer months. With its abundance of good fishing and hiking trails, the town-owned property has long been viewed as a good place to establish a park on the west edge of Rotterdam.
   That is, unless it happens to be a weekend. On Friday afternoons, railroad workers typically park the freight trains on Pan Am Railways tracks adjacent to the ponds, lock up the engines, then leave with them still idling.
   Noxious fumes from the diesel exhaust quickly fill the earthen bowl, often rendering the spot inhospitable for hours and even days on end. On some days, the emissions are so dense they create a thin blue haze over the water’s surface of the water
   “It’s like a haze,” Dedrick said, surveying the two ponds as a pair of engines idled nearby. “It’s just like a fog settling in here.”
   The fumes also envelope the nearby bike/hike trail and waft into a residential area bordering the property, where Dedrick lives. He said a cluster of engines idled through the Labor Day weekend this year, inundating his Gardinier Street neighborhood with fumes that forced him to keep his windows closed.
   “When the wind is blowing right, those fumes will keep you in your house,” he said.
   Locomotive idling is common among freight railroad operations, as engineers must sometimes wait for hours to have cars switched or for another train to clear a section of tracks. While there are some practical purposes for the idling, it is also frequently done out of habit, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
   During winter, diesel engines are almost always left running because they can be difficult to start in cold weather, and certain engines can sustain damage when started in the extreme cold. In other instances, the engines are left running to maintain critical functions such as air pressure for brakes and battery charge.
   In Rotterdam Junction, residential complaints about idling trains are nothing new. In 2003, Dedrick and a group of more than two dozen neighbors successfully petitioned the town to enact an ordinance prohibiting locomotive idling at the western terminus for the former Guilford Rail System.
   Under the local law, train companies are subject to a $1,000 fi ne or up to a year in jail, if an engine is left idling for more than a half hour between March and December. Since the law was enacted in 2003, Rotterdam Police have handed out tickets to Guilford locomotive engineers on several occasions, Lt. Michael Brown confirmed.
LOCAL VS. FEDERAL LAW
   But the summonses make little difference when they are preempted by federal law, explained Pat Saccocio, the town’s attorney. The cases that have gone before the town court have all been adjourned in the contemplation of dismissal because the freight rail industry is regulated by interstate commerce law.
   “There would be a serious constitutional challenge to [Rotterdam’s] statute,” he said. “You could imagine what would occur if a railroad had to deal with a local law in every municipality they crossed through.”
   During the last case he litigated about a year ago, Saccocio requested the Massachusetts-based company — now known as Pan Am Railways — limit the amount of time spent idling in Rotterdam out of courtesy to the town. In response, company officials only reiterated their concerns with shutting down the locomotives and the significant protocol they must follow each time.
   “There are some problems the town government just can’t solve,” Saccocio said. “In my opinion, this is one of them.”
   David Fink, president of Pan Am, failed to return numerous calls placed over a three-week period. Attempts to solicit any comment from the company’s headquarters in Billerica, Mass., were unsuccessful.
   While communities around the Capital Region have enacted similarly unenforceable ordinances, some have had a greater degree of success in getting rail companies to remedy offensive idling. In Stillwater, town officials devised a train idling ordinance in 2001, after voicing safety concerns over both the unattended locomotives and the diesel fumes they spewed into a track side neighborhood of nearly 500 residents.
   About a year later, Saratoga County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a pair of Guilford railroad workers as they waited in the idling locomotive parked in Stillwater. The arrests were the first from such laws, which were also enacted in Ballston Spa and Clifton Park.
   Company officials challenged the constitutionality of the charge, which was later dismissed. Guilford lawyers agreed to move the idling trains away from the areas where they were posing a nuisance.
   Since that time, Stillwater hasn’t experienced a problem with the company, Supervisor Greg Connors said. Pan Am provided him with a contact he could report a problem train to have them promptly moved elsewhere.
   Although the local law remains in place, Connors said there has been no need to enforce it since the initial citations five years ago. He said the last call to Pan Am came about six months ago and the company complied without incident.
   “The railroad is really conscientious about it,” he said. “They move the trains right away.”
   The Rotterdam Junction were exacerbated around the same time the idling problems in Stillwater were resolved. Dedrick said the fumes weren’t a problem when he first moved into his home about 12 years ago.
   But for the past five years or so, Dedrick said, the problem has gotten worse. He said waterfowl no longer frequent East and West ponds, something he blames on the declining air quality around them.
   “We aren’t worried about them moving the trains or blowing their horns,” he said. “We’re worried about them idling.”
FINDING SOLUTIONS
   Rotterdam Supervisor Steve Tommasone said the idling will become increasingly problematic as the town seeks to establish a passive-use park around the ponds. Once a plan for the park is developed, he said the town will try to convince Pan Am to find a different place to park their idling engines.
   Tommasone said finding a suitable location could be difficult given the proximity of Rotterdam’s residential neighborhood to the tracks. Ultimately, he said, it may fall to state and federal officials to find a long-term solution.
   “The biggest roadblock to successfully resolving this issue is the federal government,” he said. “We have to change the laws at the federal level.”
   In an effort to curb air pollution resulting from diesel locomotives, the EPA has in place a number of requirements to regulate emissions. This year, the agency proposed new regulations aimed at reducing “particulate matter emissions” from these engines by 90 percent and nitrogen oxides emissions by 80 percent over the next seven years.
   The regulations also tighten emission standards for existing locomotives when they are remanufactured, according to the EPA. Other provisions include measures to reduce unnecessary locomotive idling, such as voluntary agreements by the major railroads to cut emissions levels beyond the ones mandated by the law.
   However, such standards may take a while to affect the locomotive fleets from smaller rail companies such as Pan Am, said Ray Warner, a regional chief for the EPA’s air branch. These companies often rely on older locomotives that emit far more toxic fumes than newer or rebuilt models.
   “There are pollution issues surrounding these railroads because they don’t have the deep pockets of larger railroads,” he said.
   Warner said there are relatively inexpensive solutions the EPA has proposed. For instance, he said the engines can be outfitted with heating filaments powered with electricity, or small diesel-powered generators that can keep the engines warm during cold weather.
   These devices run between $5,000 and $20,000, an expense the EPA estimates the railroads would recoup in fuel-cost savings after three years. In certain cases, Warner said, the EPA can even work to secure grants to fund the equipment purchase.
   “There are potential fixes, but it depends on whether Pan Am is interested in pursuing those fixes,” he said.

MARC SCHULTZ/GAZETTE PHOTOGRAPHER
Smoke billows from an idling train parked near East and West ponds and the old Erie Canal tow path.

Rotterdam Junction resident Dan Dedrick is battling against the trains idling near his home. Despite efforts to get the railroads to stop idling the engines, which casts a haze over the neighborhood, it is still a problem.
MARC SCHULTZ/ GAZETTE PHOTOGRAPHER

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Put stop to idling trains

   All the local (or even state) laws in the world can’t do much to stop a train from idling for hours or days on end when its owner feels like letting it idle. That’s because interstate trains are governed by interstate commerce law. Still, the situation described in Sunday’s Gazette story, in which people living near the tracks in Rotterdam Junction are prisoners in their own homes when the wind is blowing right, must somehow be addressed. It’s more than a smelly inconvenience, it’s a health threat.
   Diesel exhaust contributes to atmospheric smog, aggravates asthma and other respiratory illnesses, and is classified as a “likely carcinogen” by the Environmental Protection Agency. So there’s no excuse for allowing a train (or any other vehicle) that’s not actually in use, to sit more than a few minutes with its engine running. And running. And running.
   Even if there were no people living in the immediate vicinity whose quality of life and health would be jeopardized by breathing the high concentrations of toxic fumes generated by such a vehicle, it’s inexcusable.
   While the EPA is finally getting around to regulating the emissions — new rules were proposed this year — they give the locomotive owners too long — seven years — to comply. The technology that would enable the engines to be turned off and on without problems is available now, and costs only $5,000 to $20,000 per engine. The fuel savings would allow costs to be recovered in just three years.
   While there has been some voluntary cooperation on this issue between the rail lines and local governments, this is obviously an issue that the federal government needs to address. Local politicians who have had little success seeking relief on their own should ask their congressional representatives for help. And the EPA should speed up the compliance schedule for its new regs.