Community Demands

Community Demands

1)Quality of life and Public Health

·  Environmental concerns, air quality mitigation, and health testing: Focus on diesel air pollution and lead contamination; see more detailed list of asks below.

·  Mitigation of structural damage to roads, sidewalks and homes: Creation of a fund for homeowners to repair damage to homes and buildings from increased truck traffic.

·  Noise reduction/mitigation

2)Buffer zones and protection of areas for local entrepreneurial opportunities:

·  Status of area south of 59thstreet

·  Local entrepreneurial zone

3)High-quality green space:Development of high-quality recreational and green space in the community possibly including walking and bike trails, a baseball diamond, or urban farm.

·  New ERA Trail: Transfer land needed for it to the city or Forest Preserve District; Obtain initial engineering and design plans; Fund for some part of development into greenway, walking/biking trails; Use Bloomingdale Trail as a model.

·  Remediation of impacts to parks located near the expanded 47th Street Terminal.

Diesel Pollution Reduction and Mitigation

1.  Diesel particulate filter retrofits (for pre-2007 engines) on trucks: Options include:

·  Retrofit of all trucks doing business at the yard with diesel particulate filters (DPF)

·  Create a fund to pay for DPF retrofits

·  Give preference or priority to trucks that have DPFs

·  Retrofit all trucks under Norfolk Southern ownership/control if any

2.  Best-available PM control technology available for all locomotive engines and freight handling equipment at the yard.

·  Best-available PM controls for all switcher locomotives and also all locomotives using/coming through the yard. GenSets should be used or a binding guarantee that the railroad will replace its current switcher(s) with new Tier 4 units once they are commercially available.

·  DPFs should be used with all diesel freight handling (loading/unloading) equipment at the yard.

3.  Reducing diesel pollution from construction of the yard expansion itself:

·  Require that all construction equipment be either Tier 4 (all post-2011 models are Tier 4) or must have a DPF.

4.  Traffic management measures for the yard itself and surrounding roadways:

·  Fund a city analysis of traffic management actions that could most significantly reduce the air quality, safety, congestion, and aesthetic impacts of the expansion on the Englewood neighborhood.

·  Options include stoplight synchronization, technology at the yard gate, routing optimization, speed limits, countdown timers for pedestrian signals, and other measures to be determined by the study.

5.  Monitoring, testing and health impacts analysis:

·  Testing for lead contamination should be done at the rail yard expansion site and remediation provided for any contamination found.

·  Lead testing should be funded and made available, especially for children.

·  Air quality monitors should be located in the surrounding neighborhood and a reasonable impacts analysis should be conducted. Current air quality levels should be recorded to provide a baseline.

·  Indoor air PM filters should be provided to schools, community centers, libraries, day care centers, centers for after-school programs, and other public buildings.

·  Appropriate buffers and mitigation media should be utilized.

·  Increased capacity to treat asthma including tools/equipment like spirometry (which distinguishes between asthma and COPD) should be provided to local hospitals and clinics.

·  Education and resources on asthma should be provided to the community.