Train noise making life in Sewaren unbearable
Residents present petition; officials pledge to do what they can
BY KATHY CHANG
Staff Writer

Some Sewaren residents are fed up with what they describe as earth-shattering noise from the coupling and uncoupling of nearby Motiva Refinery rail cars.

The noise often leaves them sleepless.

"The trains screech, clash and clang, morning, noon and night," said Delores Kearney, who presented state Sen. and interim Mayor Joseph Vitale and Township Council members with 200 signatures from Sewaren residents. "The trains have been an absolute total nuisance."

Kearney, who has lived in the area for more than 35 years, was one of over 50 residents who came out to the Oct. 17 Township Council meeting to voice their frustration with the train noise and ask for answers.

"The trains were just passenger trains before," said Barbara Joachinson, who started the petition drive with Kearney and Christine DeLisi. "Now, we call the area the 'chemical alley.' I was at my grandson's home in Woodbridge and I jolted out of bed in the middle of the night, but I realized I wasn't home. It's become so bad."

The noise from the trains occurs without warning, she said.

"Our peaceful town has now turned into a turbulence that will go on forever," Joachinson said.

Vitale and Ward 1 Councilman Charles Kenny met with Motiva, Conrail and Norfolk-Southern representatives several weeks ago.

"We had a very frank discussion with them to let them know that we are upset," said Vitale. "Conrail and Norfolk-Southern are a federal entity. If they were a local entity, then we could take a different action."

Vitale said Motiva, which is privately owned, said they would look into buying additional property inside the industrial area to do their work away from the residents' backyards.

"The next meeting we have they will present us with their engineering plans to acquire the additional property," said Vitale. "It's their responsibility to respond to us, but they haven't responded yet."

Vitale said Woodbridge has support from U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez.

"He has sent a letter to Conrail and Shell Motiva as well," said Vitale. "We have urged them to do the right thing, but since they are federal, we are stuck."

Port Reading residents had similar problems with Conrail several years ago, said Vitale.

"Conrail was issued tickets by the Port Reading Fire Department, but since again they are a federal rail line, they were granted immunity," said Vitale. "No local ordinance could prevent the problems from happening."

Vitale said township officials are doing what they can do.

"The issue has left residents unhappy and frustrated," he said. "We had our Public Works Department walk the area and clean the streets, but that pales in comparison to what residents are going through. We have to wait and see the response from Motiva and Norfolk-Southern."

Vitale said if Motiva and Norfolk-Southern officials do not come back with what the township wants, they will have to go back to the drawing board.

"I just want to let you know that we are all on the same team," he said. "We are being as supportive as we can be."

Miriam Mori said she is fed up and doesn't care who she has to go to.

"I will go to President Bush if I have to," she said. "I lived here for 12 years and pay my property taxes. I have had enough. I am even considering selling my house. None of my family comes to my house anymore because of the noise. It's terrible and when the trains [couple and uncouple] the houses shake."

Sewaren residents Dominick and Ann DeCrescenzo have been trying to sell their home on West Avenue since May.

"We keep lowering the price," said Ann DeCrescenzo. "A man was very interested in our home until we went out on the back deck and there was the train. We could barely hear each other. I was mortified."

The DeCrescenzos did not hear back from the man.

The residents also said the air and water quality in the area is questionable because of the diesel smoke from the rail cars.

"The local store around the corner has a sign in front that says as a courtesy shut off your engines," said Ann DeCrescenzo. "Well, the rail cars stop for over an hour with their engines on and the odor from the diesel fuel is horrendous. I have to shut my sliding door. Something needs to be done because there's no quality of life."

Jerry Brown, who lives on Cliff Road, said the problem is not only the noise level. The trains carry ethanol.

"I had the misfortune of seeing one barge blow up," said Brown, who was a former U.S. Army corporal and worked for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. "My kids come off the school bus one block from where the train runs. We need to form a task force and deal with this threat."

Isabelle Klopsch played a recording of what startled her out of bed at 3 a.m.

"In addition to the whistle and the screeching, your house shakes," she said. "There must be something wrong with the groundwater even though we did not drink it. My children came out fine, but my grandchildren were born with disabilities such as autism and bipolar disease. Something is amiss."

Vitale has turned to the township's Health Official Dennis Green to see what they could do to test the air quality.

Kenny said updates will be posted on the township's Web site at www.twp.woodbridge.nj.us.

"We will explore different avenues," said Kenny. "But to be honest, I don't know what is going to happen in the area."