Supervisors back new analysis of Novato freight train plan

http://www.marinij.com/marin/ci_6346311

Rob Rogers Marin Independent Journal Article Launched:07/11/2007 12:32:54 AM PDT

Novato residents expressed outrage at revelations that freight trains passing through town beginning next year could be much longer - and more frequent - than state officials suggested. Instead of 12-car trains coming through town seven times a week, officials now say there could be 60-car trains rumbling through town four or five times a day - or night.

Marin supervisors agreed Tuesday to ask the Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit board to revise its study of the environmental impacts of freight trains in Marin.

In 2006, the rail transit board's environmental report said as few as six freight trains per week would share the rails with SMART's own passenger trains once rail transportation returns to Marin.

But a June 19 memo by the executive director of the North Coast Rail Authority suggests that as many as 32 trains could be passing through Novato every week. Director Mitch Stogner said the agency earlier did not know how many trains would pass through because it had not yet hired a private company to operate the service.

The information has alarmed the Novato City Council, which will hold a public forum on the issue July 19. County officials will hold a "scoping session" with rail officials to address noise, speed and other issues July 31.

"We've heard 32 trains a week, possibly more," said Novato Councilwoman Carole Dillon-Knutson. "We've heard those trains could have 60 cars or more. The county of Marin ought to be deeply concerned about the potential environmental impact."

Dillon-Knutson asked whether SMART would be asked to cut back on passenger service in order to accommodate freight cars, or whether freight trains would have to run at night in order to accommodate SMART's rush-hour schedule.

At Tuesday's council meeting, Dillon-Knutson said she was pleased with the supervisors' decision to ask SMART officials for revisions.

"They heard us, very much so," Dillon-Knutson said of board members, who voted 4-0 with Supervisor Steve Kinsey absent to request alterations to the plan's environmental impact document.

Members of several environmental organizations, including the Marin Audubon Society, Marin Conservation League, the Sierra Club's Marin Group and Sustainable Novato, said they shared Dillon-Knutson's concerns.

Marin had no representation on the North Coast Rail Authority board until May, when Supervisor Judy Arnold and Novato Councilman Jim Leland joined the state agency and learned of the dramatic increase in freight projections.

"There's no question that the relationship between the NCRA and SMART is like an arranged marriage," Arnold said. "The NCRA has a lot of support in Sacramento and D.C., and it's time we started to look at the impact of what they're doing."

Opponents of SMART have seized on the issue as another reason to reject commuter rail service, and even supporters of the project said they worried SMART deliberately misled them during a failed 2006 campaign for a sales tax to pay for the service.

"I support SMART, and I do want the issue to come back to the ballot," said Novato resident Veronica Valero. "But I'm disappointed with what I'm hearing from the officers of SMART. I live next to the railroad tracks, and I want to know what will be transported, and is it necessary?"

Those who opposed SMART had other questions.

"Those people who were pushing SMART, like Assemblyman Jared Huffman and (Supervisor) Charles McGlashan - did you people get a snow job?" asked Fairfax resident Stan Schriebman. "Were we able to vote intelligently? I'm bitter about that."

SMART officials have said they've already begun work on a new environmental survey of the project, which would restore rail transit between Willits and Lombard, an area near Napa.

Yet that study won't include an assessment of plans by the North Coast Rail Authority to extend its line even farther north, linking it to a potential new container port in Eureka or an as-yet-unbuilt quarry on the Eel River. Either project could greatly increase the amount of freight on Marin's railways.

"The railroad isn't feasible unless it's a big urban railroad," said Gordon Bennett of the Sierra Club's Marin Group. "The NCRA looks at this as phase one. They need phases two and three to be profitable."

Stogner said the railroad does not need to expand beyond the Willits-Lombard route in order to earn a profit.

McGlashan, who serves as vice president of the SMART board, said the agency could not legally conduct an environmental analysis of the state rail authority's future plans.

"The NCRA has some big dreams, but they're just speculation," McGlashan said, with regards to the Eureka and Eel River projects. "The Eel River quarry line would cost at least $200 million and take 30 years."

That answer didn't please environmental leaders, who want every potential use of the tracks to be taken into consideration.

"Any analysis should be based on all three phases, to assess these bigger plans, and not just phase one," said Roger Roberts of the Marin Conservation League.

Nor did it please Supervisor Susan Adams, who is concerned about the construction of a quarry on the Eel River.

"If the NCRA wants to operate to Eureka, I have some concerns," Adams said. "I don't want to see a quarry turn a vibrant, colorful area into a moonscape. I don't want to see this issue get blown off.

"We need to hold NCRA's feet to the fire."


Read more Novato stories at the IJ's Novato page. IJ reporter Jennifer Upshaw contributed to this report. Contact Rob Rogers via e-mail at rrogers@marinij.com