Brookhaven National Labs Makes Newday

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longi ... -headlines

Interesting..............................

I just read that - utterly amazing. WTF are they thinking?

Wasn't that 'queens agreement' ban just on MSW, and suppose to be in effect for just 5 years from the nya start in 1997?

I can't imagine it being enforcable with this being a matter of interstate commerce and all. I kinda doubt the FRA cares what a queens borough president thinks. They should be happy NYA didn't go after MSW loads sooner... (though how radioactive soil is MSW I'm not sure...)

What is the alternative? stick it in trucks down the LIE and through manhattan?

Someone oughta smack the geniuses running the MTA....

If its been going on for 2+ years, how did they not know sooner? It clearly displays "radioactive" on the side of the gondolas.

While the shipment of radioactive soil has been shipped for 2+ years, recently the level of radiation in the soil has increased, which has required shipping them as Placarded Hazardous Materials cars. (Before they were just carloads of contaminated soil, same as moving regular freight.)

Once they are shipped as Hazmats, new rules and regulations apply to their movement. The LIRR's Hazardous Materials Regulations clearly state that moving placarded radioactive cars is prohibited without authorization, and then may only be moved in "Special Train Service."

When the conductor of the job (who's a pretty sharp guy in my book) questioned this, and had the union clarify the issue, the you-know-what hit the fan.

Where all this other stuff about the movement of waste through Queens came from is a mystery.

Jay

I recall reading somewhere when nya first started that some deal with struck between lirr and the queens borough presidents office saying NYA couldn't haul MSW through queens for 5 years. Made about as much sense then as it does now...

yeah ok... the dirt isnt as toxic as one of a hundred sites in queens... gimme a break... i'm sure some genius will say it would be safer to carry out by truck... talk about a 'dirty bomb'... homeland security may have had a hand in this...

Wouldent the state love having to clean up radio active soil from 495 after a truck turns over or some dirt falls from the truck putting the general public at risk.

beleive it or not, getting rid of that soil by rail is way more safer and intelegent then by truck. and im not stating this from a railfan P.O.V.

with the conditions of the HTS and the way New Yorkers drive (aragance in notch 8) and all the weaving in and out of traffic makes trucking this not such a safe option.

trucking hazmat should only be done if nescary to get the material weather it be radioactive soil or gasoline to an "in land" location not accessable by rail or ship. putting hazmat on the highway puts you and I at risk. leave it on the rails odds are is it will be safer, worse comes to worse you impose a speed resctriction and man every crossing to prevent loose nuts from falling off behing the wheel getting hit by the "dirty train".

hey thats just my opinion.

I've got a question for the NYAR crews:

I recently recall seeing tarps put over gondolas that come out of Brookhaven. I don't always remember seeing them on there though. Did the company force you guys to work around radioactive soil like that? Or was the un-covered stuff not harmful?

Joe

truth is, MP-15 #151 was originally painted dark green, and came too close to the radioactive soil... that is why it now glows bright green...

badneighbor wrote:truth is, MP-15 #151 was originally painted dark green, and came too close to the radioactive soil... that is why it now glows bright green...

LOL!!! that is funny!

IAWTP lol

Is that the truth or is that some bull crap, but if it is true then dam, that soil is really radioactive.

Joe the last time I was with the 60 on that move the soil was covered with a tarp. But because of weight restrictions the gondola is only about half full so it doesn't look covered. Yes the soil is contaminated. Could be low level radioactive. Depends on what area is being remediated. I was only there officially in 1990. Another one of our SCDHS inspectors has an office on site. If you want a view of the Gondolas Emfinite contact me offlist.

i wonder if any of these genius politicians realize that the NYA carries 3-4 rolling bombs-on-wheels, sometimes on the same train as the glow-in-the-dark soil... as a local FD member, those propane tankers rolling down the main line to Wyandanch and Riverhead and Montauk line to Bridgehampton concern me more than radioactive soil. REGARDLESS-- all of these hazards are significantly safer to be carried on rails than on roads.

I agree with Badneighbor. Those cars can and will leave a crater, not a hole. They also have the potential to send themselves or other cars on the train flying hundreds of yards.