Wednesday, May 15, 2013
City Council has many questions and little recourse when it comes to railroad company's request to expand operations.
Alexandria City Council members lamented Norfolk Southern's request to double the number of rail cars offloaded per day at its ethanol transloading facility in the West End at Tuesday night’s meeting at City Hall. Earlier this year, Norfolk Southern filed for a permit with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to increase offloading from the current 14 rail cars to 30 cars per day. Increased emissions under the plan mean Norfolk Southern needs an air quality permit to expand the scale of operations at the facility at 1000 S. Van Dorn St. Council unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday expressing its opposition to the issuance of a permit because of “increased air emissions” and requesting an informational meeting and separate …
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Norfolk Southern is seeking a state permit to increase offloading from 14 to 30 rail cars per day at its Alexandria facility.
Alexandria Mayor Bill Euille said Tuesday he plans to do everything within his power to oppose Norfolk Southern's request to double the number of rail cars offloaded per day at its ethanol transfer facility near the Van Dorn Street Metro station. Norfolk Southern filed for a permit with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to increase offloading from the current 14 rail cars to 30 cars per day. Increased emissions under the plan mean Norfolk Southern will need an air quality permit to expand the scale of operations at the facility at 1000 S. Van Dorn St. Euille said he plans to bring a resolution before City Council next month opposing any expansion, then meet with Norfolk Southern and Virginia environmental officials to make …
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Alexandria facility has had spills in the past.
City Manager Rashad Young is criticizing a request from Norfolk Southern for a permit to increase the number of rail cars containing ethanol that can be offloaded at its Alexandria facility. In a letter to the director of the Northern Regional Office, Thomas Faha, Young said the city has “longstanding serious concerns about the operations at this facility. This proposed expansion would undoubtedly increase the risks from the facility and raise the concerns from the community.” Alexandria City Council and community leaders received the request Monday afternoon from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. Norfolk Southern wants to increase the offloading rail cars from the current 14 cars to 30 cars per day, according to a city …
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
The 100-gallon spill was contained Tuesday night at the transloading facility in southwestern Alexandria near the Van Dorn Metro station.
The Norfolk Southern transloading facility had a 100-gallon ethanol spill Tuesday evening, according to City of Alexandria officials. The railroad has a transloading facility near Van Dorn Metro station and its tracks run through Alexandria, among many other places. Norfolk Southern/RSI alerted the Alexandria emergency communications center to the spill around 5:10 p.m. The spill was entirely within the transloading facility's containment system and posed "no hazard or other impact on surrounding properties or the community," according to a statement from Tony Castrilli, City of Alexandria spokesman. A contractor specializing in cleaning up fuel spills was called and is expected to start work immediately. Norfolk Southern/RSI is looking …
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Previously, the railroad company made other regulatory calls in the event of a potentially hazardous situation before calling local emergency first responders.
Norfolk Southern Railroad now plans to notify the Alexandria Fire Department immediately as part of its emergency response plan rather than make other regulatory calls first. A Norfolk Southern representative member of the Local Emergency Planning Committee announced the change Tuesday night during a public meeting held at Alexandria Police Department headquarters. Alexandria Fire Department Battalion Chief Michael Cross also attended the meeting and confirmed for Patch that his office had been notified of the change. Cross said the Fire Department under the new protocol would immediately examine any potentially dangerous situation such as a spill and determine if additional resources would be needed. The railroad has a transloading …
Leslie Hagan
9:26 pm on Saturday, May 18, 2013
Perhaps, as much as I hate the pollution and chance of a really terrible accident at the site, at least Council is getting a taste of how citizens who live in development zones in the City feel when they try to deal with Council, staff, or the Planning Commission. I guess it is too much to hope that Council might learn something here. more ›