Pennsylvania locals dispute ‘New York/New Jersey trash trains’
A proposed rail line to move trash through rural Elk and Jefferson counties in northwestern Pennsylvania continues drawing opposition from local officials and residents, as questions over the project’s scope, transparency, and the legal status of a long-dormant rail corridor remain unresolved.
Supporters say the project could reduce long-haul truck traffic by shifting waste transport to rail, and communities in the district will benefit from increased revenue. Opponents argue the proposal has changed significantly since it was first presented and could bring new burdens to communities that have treated the rail corridor as abandoned. They also point out that much of the trash would come from New York and New Jersey – benefitting states that limit reliance on their own landfills while exporting waste elsewhere.
As originally proposed, the project would add 3.87 miles of new track along an abandoned rail bed, beginning at the end of an active Buffalo & Pittsburgh Railroad line – commonly referred to as the “Toby Branch” – near the O-I Crenshaw Glass Plant, and ending at the Greentree Landfill. The landfill is operated by Noble Environmental, the parent company of Lampwrights LLC, which was formed to develop the proposed rail line.
The Surface Transportation Board, or STB, is the federal agency reviewing the rail proposal. Its Office of Environmental Analysis, or OEA, handles the environmental review, including potential impacts, feasibility questions, and any mitigation that may be required before the board makes a final decision.
Two issues have become central to the debate: whether the former rail corridor was ever legally abandoned, and whether sewer lines installed along the corridor would need to be relocated.
A letter sent to the STB by Horton Township supervisors argued that the proposed rail construction involves a former corridor that has long been treated as abandoned after the Toby Mines were exhausted in 1926.
“The tracks, bridges, and crossings of this segment and most of the rest of the former branch line were ripped out long ago by Erie Lackawanna Railway Company prior to its declared bankruptcy in 1972,” the letter states.
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