Iowa Pacific CEO told the Post Star in Glens Falls that he has found little interest in storage of used oil tanker rail cars
The Post Star is reporting that plans by Iowa Pacific for storing dirty oil tanker rail cars in the Adirondacks is unlikely. The Post Star reported that Ed Ellis, president of Iowa Pacific Holdings LLC, parent company of Saratoga-North Creek Rail Road said today that his company has not found much interest for this service. The company’s plan had been very controversial over the past two months.
Last month, Iowa Pacific Railway Company announced to the Warren County Board of Supervisors that it planned to begin marketing operations for longterm storage of used oil tanker DOT-111 railway cars. The Company stated in July that it saw an immense business opportunity for this activity on the East coast and that it was successfully storing several hundred such cars on railways that it operated in Colorado. The company stated that it could not find any interest by private companies in storing these cars. The article also states that New York State agencies encouraged Iowa Pacific not to undertake this plan.
After PROTECT’s field visit, Iowa Pacific threatened Protect the Adirondack with trespassing charges.
“Protect the Adirondacks is very pleased to hear that the Adirondack Park will not be used for storing dirty oil tanker cars. The Adirondack Park should not be a waste dump for any outside garbage. This proposal ran contrary to everything the Adirondack Park is all about. Hopefully we’re done with this bad idea,” said Peter Bauer, executive director of Protect the Adirondacks.
Iowa Pacific has leased the rail line in question from Saratoga and Warren Counties, while it owns the Sanford Lake Rail Line in Hamilton and Essex Counties. Iowa Pacific’s proposal is to transport used oil tanker cars through Saratoga and Warren counties, with long stretches within the Adirondack Park, and then store these cars, perhaps hundreds, along various stretches of the Sanford Lake Rail Line.
Click here to read the Post Star article.
Protect the Adirondacks has opposed this bad idea. Click here for more information on PROTECT’s opposition. Click here for a letter to Governor Cuomo opposing this plan
In September, Protect the Adirondacks visited a section of the the Sanford Lake Railway, which is owned by Iowa Pacific, and found old passenger cars being stored on a stretch of siding that sits in a vast wetland system along the Boreas River surrounded by the public Forest Preserve. These cars were in visible disrepair and falling apart. They had been vandalized and trash was evident. Most disturbing was the corroding paint on an old car where a large amount of paint chips had fallen from the car and were soaking into the track and ties. “The poor storage of these cars did not give PROTECT much confidence in Iowa Pacific’s claims that there will be no negative environmental impacts from longterm storage of used oil tanker rail cars on its rail lines in the Adirondacks,” said Peter Bauer.
See pictures here of deteriorating rail cars stored in Essex County in the Adirondack Park by Iowa Pacific.
Below are pictures of some parts of the Iowa Pacific rail line in Essex County as well as the Boreas River, in places where the rail line is within 50-100 feet.
