Lautenberg wants state regulation of trash trains

Lautenberg wants state regulation of trash trains U.S. Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg, D-N.J., told the U.S. Surface Transportation Board Thursday that states should have the authority to regulate solid waste processing facilities along rail lines.
   “Unregulated waste facilities, whether on a rail line or not, are bad for our communities,” Lautenberg said during an STB hearing. “States like New Jersey need the ability to regulate them to protect the health and safety of their residents.”
   Lautenberg said a loophole in federal law allows large piles of garbage to accumulate along rail lines across the country.
   He said trash, largely composed of construction debris that can include elevated levels of arsenic and mercury, is kept at sites along rail lines before being shipped to landfills in other states.
   Garbage piles, some as tall as two stories, pose a serious health and environmental risk to those who live near, or work at, sites like this across New Jersey and the nation.
   Lautenberg and Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., have sponsored legislation, the Clean Railroads Act of 2007 (S.719), to close the federal loophole and allow New Jersey and other states to regulate solid waste facilities on rail property for environmental, health and safety reasons.