Contact your elected officials, personally and through your Community Development Corporation. Glenn Olcerst has been sending them emails on this topic so they should be somewhat familiar with the issue.
Ask your officials to:
Use your tax dollars to re-deploy the $28 million project funding to instead secure the hillside adjacent to the Mon Line, and re-direct the double-stacked trains there, where there is no height restriction
Support the demand for true town hall meetings with City, PennDOT and Norfolk Southern representatives in each of your communities
Agree to supply all of the information listed on the “Pre-Public Meeting Information Request” handout in advance of any such meeting
Consider the options and solutions listed in the “Possible Options and Solutions” handout that best fit your community’s needs.
Contact potential funding sources to help pay for:
Cameras and monitors
Community outreach, education and engagement
Legal advice
How to find your elected officials:
Go to https://live.cicerodata.com/
Displays local, state, and national representatives
Other ways to help:
Identify locations where and how long trains are idling in your area
If you have special skills, like web development, design, etc., volunteer!
Offer to go door-to-door to alert your neighbors about the railroad’s plans
Write letters to the editor
Send follow-up questions to glennolcerst@gmail.com
Possible Options and Solutions
We believe that once armed with the facts about the dangers of the PVCP, using citizen science and organizing, we will be able to inform elected officials so they’re aware of the risks to the community. We will use the critical information and growing community network to hold Norfolk Southern accountable and to require them to modify their project to address the community’s concerns. Desired outcomes and options to achieve them are detailed below.
To Prevent Derailments
• Replace or reinforce all antiquated sewer/water lines and infrastructure along the route
• Increase water drainage capacity in the trough running through Allegheny Commons, and at other junctures along the route in order to prevent ground subsidence and movement under the ballast
• Ensure Positive Train Controls are implemented throughout the route, are always working properly, and have backup systems in place when main controls are taken off line for maintenance
To Prevent Additional Degradation of Air Quality
• Require black carbon diesel scrubbers on the engines
• Require the use of Tier 4 or hybrid train engines
• Electrify the route (done now for passenger trains elsewhere)
• Re-deploy the $28 million project funding to instead secure the hillside adjacent to the Mon Line, and re-direct the double-stacked trains there, where there is no height restriction
• Advocate for policy responses to limit the ability for Norfolk Southern to add high amounts of additional air pollution in communities already bearing environmental justice burdens
To Ensure Public Safety at Intersections
• Keep double-decker trains exclusively on Norfolk Southern’s Mon Line
• Lower only the two middle tracks, thereby leaving the toe footers for the trough walls in Allegheny Commons unaffected
• If the Northside Merchant Street Bridge must be lowered, make the underpass pedestrian only
• Split the height difference by lowering the tracks a little and raising the bridges a little
To Produce More Robust Community Engagement
• Convene a series of true town hall meetings, conveniently located in each of the affected neighborhoods, to be held where members of the project team are identified, are on a stage where they’re visible, use microphones so the audience can all hear their answers to questions, where project renderings are clearly displayed at the front of the stage, and provide an independent facilitator to conduct the proceedings
• Contribute documentation to Rail Pollution Protection Pittsburgh’s website - a central repository accessible by the public; containing maps of all relevant underlying infrastructure (including their depth and age); original construction drawings (including cross-sections) of the trough through Allegheny Commons; project drawings and timelines; project team names, faces and contact information; project status, etc.
• Incorporate social media platforms that encourage the public’s feedback
To Compensate Those Most Affected
• Provide an endowment for impacted parks and playgrounds
• Make adjoining property owners financially whole and, based on a vibration, load, and noise analysis, provide an additional stipend to mitigate the trains’ effects
Pre-Public Meeting Information Request
In order to ensure that a truly meaningful community process occurs, it is necessary that the PVCP team provide the following information to all of the Community Development Corporations along the Fort Wayne and Pittsburgh Lines at least one month in advance of any mutually agreed-upon date for a public meeting.
PVCP Project Documentation
• All bridge and engineering drawings, including those showing approach elevations and surface and subsurface impact on adjacent properties
• All locations where current plans will result in a “taking” of property by eminent domain
• All road/bridge safety studies performed for the Pittsburgh Vertical Clearance Project (“PVCP”)
• Copies of all environmental, historic, health, welfare, and general safety impact studies conducted by the PVCP team
• All cost analyses of raising bridges versus lowering of tracks
• Engineering studies relating to the infrastructure and drainage systems in Allegheny Commons (including age and depth below tracks)
• Any and all impact to historically protected Allegheny Commons (trees, topography, access etc.)
• Vibration and noise analysis testing and results
Norfolk Southern Operations
• Documents showing the location and duration of idling trains over the past year
• Documents confirming the current number of trains, including cargo and weight, as well as projected volume and length of single- and double-stacked rail traffic
• A list of all Norfolk Southern accidents and derailments, including types of cargo involved, within the past 5 years, along with the determined cause and the financial cost
• Documents showing both transit time and monetary savings resulting from use of the new route
• Certification that all of the railroad ties along the Fort Wayne and Pittsburgh Lines have been replaced with properly treated ties. (This item relates to current litigation pertaining to Norfolk Southern’s purchase of what was determined to be untreated, or improperly treated, ties that are prone to rot.)
The timeline for supplying the requested information must be followed strictly to allow those who are most directly impacted the opportunity to hire engineers to analyze the data. The engineer and other experts’ reports will help ensure that the most intelligent and informed questions can be asked during initial, and follow up, public meetings.
RP3 Broader Mission Demands
• Positive Train Control implemented now
• More advanced brakes exist now, and we want them installed on trains hauling explosive fuels
• Regular inspections on rail infrastructure including bridges with public reports
• Lower speed limits imposed in populated areas
• Emergency response plans funded by Norfolk Southern – including training equipment, communication systems, qualified officials to coordinate first responders and cleanup
• State-level environmental reviews with public comment periods
• Required proof of financial responsibility – posting of bonds and adequate insurance
• Enforce strict permitting and land use at local non-carrier loading/unloading facilities
• A renewed freeze on public funding
• Strict liability for all oil spills, all resulting damages, restoration of natural resources, fees on all off-loaded oil, punitive damages
• Stabilization to remove explosive gasses
• Help organizing and administering a GoFundMe campaign
• Leads on where trains are idling
Relevant Contact Information
City Council:
Darlene Harris, District 1
• 412-255-2135 darlene.harris@pittsburghpa.gov
• Allegheny Center, Allegheny City Central, Allegheny West, Brighton Heights, Brightwood, East Allegheny, Fineview, Northview Heights, Observatory Hill, Spring Garden, Spring Hill, Summer Hill, Troy Hill & Washington’s Landing
Theresa Kail-Smith, District 2
• 412-255-8963 theresea.kailsmith@pittsburghpa.gov
• Banksville, Beechview, Chartiers City, Crafton Heights, Duquesne Heights & Mount Washington, East Carnegie, Elliot, Esplen, Fairywood, Oakwood & Ridgemont, South Shore, Sheraden, West End, Westwood, Windgap
Bruce Kraus, District 3
• 412-255-2130 bruce.kraus@pittsburghpa.gov
• Allentown, Arlington, Arlington Heights, Beltzhoover, Central Oakland, Knoxville, Mt Oliver, Oakcliffe, South Side Flats, South Side Slopes, South Oakland, St. Clair
Anthony Coghill, District 4
• 412-255-2131 anthony.coghill@pittsburghpa.gov
• Beechview, Bon Air, Brookline, Carrick, Mt. Washington, Overbrook
Corey O’Connor, District 5
• 412-255-8965 corey.oconnor@pittsburghpa.gov
• Glen Hazel, Greenfield, Hays, Hazelwood, Lincoln Place, New Homestead, Regent Square, Squirrel Hill South, Swisshelm Park
R. Daniel Lavelle, District 6
• 412-255-0820 daniel.lavelle@pittsburghpa.gov
• Perry Hilltop, The Hill, Northside, Uptown, Downtown, Oakland
Deb Gross, District 7
• 412-255-2140 deb.gross@pittsburghpa.gov
• Bloomfield, Friendship, Highland Park, Lawrenceville, Morningside, Polish Hill, Stanton Heights, Strip District
Erika Strassburger, District 8
• 412-255-2133 erika.strassburger@pittsburghpa.gov
• Oakland, Point Breeze, Shadyside, Squirrel Hill North
Ricky Burgess, District 9
• 412-255-8658 ricky.burgess@pittsburghpa.gov
• East Liberty, Homewood, East Hills, Larimer, Point Breeze North, Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar, Friendship, Garfield
Mayor’s Office:
Bill Peduto, Mayor
• 412-255-2626 bill.peduto@pittsburghpa.gov
Dan Gillman, Chief of Staff
• dan.gilman@pittsburghpa.gov
Department of Mobility and Infrastructure:
Karina Ricks, Director
• karina.ricks@pittsburghpa.gov
PennDOT
Cheryl Moon Sirianni, Pittsburgh Area District Executive
• 412-429-5005 csirianni@pa.gov
