There's an important town meeting for East Hempfield residents this Tuesday 4/6/10 regarding the proposed (and underway) relocation of the Dillerville rail yard to a location abutting School Lane Hills and Barrcrest. The PA Dept. of Environmental Protection is holding an unprecedented public meeting (the first of it's kind in the state, in fact) to hear comments from residents regarding the project. This is as a result of the considerable publicized outcry over the relocation of the rail yard from Lancaster City alongside Franklin & Marshall College (who are the primary drivers of the whole thing).
The citizen's group CAARRT (Community Activist Against Railrod Transgressions) have a website, www.CAARRT.com with many more details on the relocation and the public meeting, which is tomorrow April 6th from 7-9pm at the East Hempfield Municipal Building (1700 Nissley Road, Lancaster).
Here's the synopsis from the flyer distributed to residents:
"Please be advised that the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) will hold a public meeting on Tuesday, April 6, 2010 to receive public comment on the final cleanup report for the proposed relocation of Norfolk Southern's Dillerville Rail Yard. The meeting will be held from 7-9 pm at the East Hempfield Township municipal building at 1700 Nissley Road. Members of the public are cordially invited to attend and participate in this very important meeting.
The meeting is a result of a settlement agreement between DEP and a local citizens' group, CAARRT, Community Activist Against Rail Road Transgressions (formerly TRRAAC). CAARRT had appealed the remedial investigation/cleanup plan submitted by ARM Group on behalf of Franklin and Marshall College. CAARRT withdrew its appeal conditioned upon DEP providing the public an opportunity to comment on the final cleanup report. DEP is not legally required to hold such a meeting or to provide public comment on final cleanup reports under the state cleanup law. CAARRT is appreciative of DEP seeking public input. Such a public comment hearing before the DEP on a final cleanup plan has never happened before in Pennsylvania. However, DEP is holding this meeting in response to the significant concern that the public has expressed about the cleanup.
The cleanup involves a 10 acre site in Manheim Township adjacent to the Little Conestoga Creek that was formerly the town dump. The site is presently owned by the Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority (LCSWMA) and is being cleaned up with tens of millions of state and federal tax dollars as part of Franklin and Marshall's Northwest Gateway Project. Franklin and Marshall secured the funding to enable it to relocate its athletic fields to the former Armstrong site in exchange for Norfolk Southern relocating part of the Dillerville Rail Yard to the former dump.
CAARRT consists of concerned residents of the Barrcrest, Old School Lane Hills, and Gentry Heights neighborhoods and has expressed its opposition to the relocation of the rail yard to this site because it is so close to these established neighborhoods. CAARRT believes there is a better alternative site, but its suggestions have never been taken seriously."
Should be interesting...
Comments(1)