Denbo residents claim passing trains damaging roads, houses
CENTERVILLE – Denbo residents say overloaded, speeding Norfolk Southern Railroad trains are emitting black clouds of coal dust and damaging roads and houses in their community. Their regular complaints have prompted Centerville Borough Council to meet with U.S. Rep. John Murtha’s office Tuesday at 3 p.m. at the Denbo-Vesta 6 fire hall to discuss the situation.
Other issues will be discussed, but the concerns about Norfolk Southern will be the primary focus.
Council members agree this will be their last attempt to arrive at some kind of solution to the problems before taking the matter to court. The board has had the state Department of Environmental Protection, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) as well as state representatives look into the matter, with no resolution.
Denbo residents Kenny Sinko and Earnie Stitchick, on behalf of themselves and neighbors, have attended several council meetings to complain about the railroad.
Residents’ concerns include substantial damage to homes and borough roads caused by the ground slippage near their homes. Residents and borough officials agree that the slippage is caused by Norfolk Southern’s removal of the ground support along the hill.
Sinko said the problems with Norfolk Southern have been going on for almost two years.
“It’s something. We can’t find anyone to step up and say they have to slow down or lower their loads and spray them. Either no one can help us or they’re afraid to stand up to the task,” Sinko said.
Residents in this village along the Monongahela River have been complaining about the thick black clouds of smoke that come from the trains, Sinko said, noting that the black dust covers cars and homes and pollutes the air.
“Those coal trucks are piled so high, the dust literally blows like a smoke screen. I have to spray my house down six to seven times a year,” Sinko said. “It (coal dust) makes it hard to breathe outside. Plus, the noise is so bad, when we see one (a train) coming, we step inside.”
Sinko said about 25 trains come through Denbo every day, beginning as early as 3 a.m. While the bulk of them travel through town around 3 p.m., he said that sometimes the trains travel at all hours, and the only day on which travel “lets up a little” is Sunday.
“They come all night long,” he said.
Sinko said about a dozen houses, including his own, are located about 25 to 30 feet from the railroad tracks, and the vibrations from the trains can be felt from miles away.
“I can tell when he’s coming. I can feel the vibrations,” he said. “A coffee cup will walk across my table. The vibrations are terrible. I don’t think they do maintenance on their cars.”
According to Norfolk Southern, a Virginia-based holding company with headquarters in Norfolk, Va., their trains travel 40 mph.
But, Sinko, who has videotaped the passing trains, says that it “takes about a minute for 125 cars” to pass through.
Stitchick has complained that the foundations of residents’ homes have shifted, and the walls of the foundations are buckling.
Councilwoman Susie Zebley said houses in the village are built into a hill, and some people use jacks to support the main foundation wall.
“The walls are kicked out on the first floor. The house sits on jacks because the walls are separated and moving out,” Zebley said.
Norfolk Southern spokesperson Rudy Husband attributed the damages to the fact that the houses sit atop an abandoned mine.
But, Zebley said that DEP did core samples proving that the residents’ homes and the borough road are atop solid ground.
Through the process of elimination, Zebley said, council has concluded that the damage is caused by recent work by Norfolk Southern, which cut out a portion of the hillside, below where the houses stand.
Zebley said the houses and the trains have been in Denbo for years, and the problem didn’t arise until Norfolk Southern took over ownership.
In addressing the other issues, Husband said the company has met with the council several times and told the board that the complaints about the coal dust must be taken up with the mines that are transporting the coal, not Norfolk Southern. Additionally, he said the FRA regulates the speed and sets standards based on the maintenance level on the track.
A couple months ago, after many attempts to work with Norfolk Southern on a solution, the council voted to take legal action against the company. The meeting with Murtha’s office is the last go before they start the proceedings.
Solicitor Dennis Makel advised the board to try Murtha before investing money in legal fees to rectify the problems.
“I’d like to see what he can do first. He may have more pull,” Makel said.
Zebley added, “Council wants to do what’s right for these people whose homes have been damaged.”
Councilman Patsy Ricciuti said that if the meeting with Murtha’s office doesn’t produce a resolution, “I think our obligation is to take it to court to do something.”