Motiva to meet with residents on expansion Expansion of facility may improve living conditions near terminal BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer Sewaren residents will get a chance to review Motiva Enterprises LLC's plans to expand their rail yard at their Sewaren refined products terminal today. Motiva, Conrail, and Norfolk-Southern representatives will be on hand 4-7 p.m. Feb. 21 in council chambers at town hall, 1 Main St., to answer any questions. Motiva announced their rail yard expansion on Nov. 6, 2006. "The expansion will enable Motiva to deliver ethanol into the New York Harbor marketplace more efficiently by increasing the terminal's rail car handling capacity," said Stan Mays, spokesman for Motiva. Ralph Otis, Motiva's Sewaren plant manager, said the expansion will reduce the frequency of the cars that go through Sewaren. "The terminal is a 5-million-plus-barrel refined products terminal that is strategically located to serve ethanol suppliers and consumers in the Northeast," Otis said. "The expansion of the rail facilities is needed to handle the growing demand for ethanol. Additionally, the expanded rail yard will be capable of handling two entire 80- to 100-rail-car-unit trains daily, which is the preferred method of transportation of ethanol suppliers and rail carriers." Currently, the maximum number that the rail yard is capable of handling is 40 rail-car-unit trains daily, said Otis. The ethanol tank cars are typically combined with other cargo-carrying rail cars being hauled by the railroads and must be uncoupled outside the Motiva property before entering Motiva's rail yard facility, he said. Sewaren residents and other residents across the township have said the train noise from the Motiva Refinery rail cars have been making life unbearable. Otis said he is aware of the noise problem. Otis said in November that he talked to then-interim Mayor Joseph Vitale several times and said Vitale understood that the train noise was not coming from Motiva, but from Conrail and Norfolk-Southern. "We believe that the expansion of our rail yard is positive to the community because the frequency of the cars will run through more efficiently." Township officials have met several times with Motiva, Conrail and Norfolk-Southern over the past two months to discuss ways to better the quality of life for residents. Township officials announced in January that they have taken a huge step forward by hiring Maser Consulting, a professional engineering firm with extensive experience in engineering and developing "quiet zones," to conduct a $4,000 feasibility study. The study will review existing railroad crossings located at the Conrail Port Reading Line at grade crossings located at Amboy Avenue, Rahway Avenue, Blair Avenue and Woodbridge Avenue. As part of the feasibility study, township inspectors and consulting engineers will gather information about track and crossing jurisdiction [municipal, county, state or federal], existing track and grade conditions, and equipment such as warning devices, lights and gates. The study will be followed by a priority schedule to establish "quiet zones" at the designated crossing locations. Motiva is working to complete their rail yard expansion project in 2007. Motiva Enterprises LLC, headquartered in Houston, Texas, is a refining and marketing joint venture owned by affiliates of Shell and Saudi Aramco. Motiva's marketing operations support a network of nearly 9,000 Shell-brand gasoline stations in the eastern and southern United States. Company assets include three refineries located in Norco and Convent, La., and Port Arthur, Texas, capable of refining approximately 740,000 barrels per day, and ownership or partial interests in 42 product terminals.