Please
Note: Comment Period is Over
Letters
Needed to Department of Transportation to Minimize Impact of
CP Rail Communication Towers
Comments Accepted Until August 26, 2005
The Department
of Transportation (DOT) is seeking public comment on the Environmental
Assessment (EA) for communication towers proposed along the Canadian-Pacific
(CP) railroad corridor. The EA, required by the NYS Environmental
Quality Review Act (SEQRA), outlines alternatives and evaluates
the potential environmental impacts of the proposed towers.
CP Rail owns
the former Delaware & Hudson rail line, which runs north-south
from Albany to the Canadian border just inside the eastern border
of the Adirondack Park. CP Rail wants to build new towers in
the railroad corridor to upgrade their communications system
along the rail line.
The Adirondack
Council is not opposed to improved communications on the Park’s
railroads, but we want to ensure that the type of equipment and
the placement would not harm the Park’s natural and open-space
character. We need your help to ensure that DOT chooses the alternative
that will minimize the environmental and aesthetic impacts on
the Park.
The History
In the summer
of 2004, CP Rail started building two 165-foot-tall towers in
Whallonsburg and Port Kent without applying for an Adirondack
Park Agency (APA) permit. Two other towers in Crown Point and
Dresden were also planned to be built. The APA issued a cease-and-desist
order to stop CP from further construction. CP Rail then sued
the APA in US District Court in an attempt to overturn the cease-and-desist
order.
The Adirondack
Council petitioned the federal court for the right to join the
court case on the side of the Park Agency. The Council believed
that the APA’s authority over any structure 40 feet or taller
applied to federally regulated railroads. Just as the Council’s
federal court motion was about to be heard, CP Rail dropped its
suit, but the cease-and-desist order remained in effect.
By dropping its
case, CP Rail was able to negotiate in private with the state
to work on a solution that was agreeable to all parties without
having the court decide whether or not the APA has jurisdiction
over such railroad projects. CP Rail has done the right thing
by working with the DOT and APA to develop this EA and alternatives
for this project.
The Alternatives
- Which One is Best for the Park?
The DOT has proposed
four alternatives in the EA that concern constructing towers
inside the Adirondack Park only. None of the proposals affect
the towers outside of the Park, where the company will construct
five 165-foot towers along the railroad corridor.
The alternatives
offer different scenarios for the height and number of the towers
involved in the project inside the Park. Some of the options
include moving forward with the original plan for four highly
visible 165 ft. towers or using some of the original tall towers
with some new lower towers. These alternatives are much too lengthy
to summarize here, so please visit DOT’s website at www.dot.state.ny.us/fedd/cpr.html to review them all.
The Adirondack
Council is supporting Alternative D, which proposes to shorten all the towers
inside the Adirondack Park. Instead of building four 165 ft.
towers in the Park, they will be reduced to 95 ft. (including
the existing towers at Whallonsburg and Port Kent) and an additional
three 75 ft. towers will be constructed. This alternative will
allow CP Rail to upgrade their communication system by using
shorter towers that will blend in with the Park’s natural
tree line. Overall, Alternative D better protects the Park’s
aesthetic resources and wild character.
n addition to
Alternative D, DOT has presented the option in the EA of relocating
the tower in Whallonsburg to Essex. The Council opposes this
because it would increase the number of towers constructed on
Resource Management lands. Resource Management is the highest
protection given to private lands within the Adirondack Park
and should be protected from development whenever possible.
Other Issues
in the EA
Abandonment
Currently, CP
Rail uses wood pole antennas at the existing radio communications
sites along the rail line. Once these new towers are built they
will render this infrastructure obsolete. In the EA, CP Rail
has agreed to remove the old wooden poles and wires from the
existing radio sites which is expected to improve the view shed
along certain sections of the railroad. The Council supports
removing this obsolete equipment.
Collocation
Also in the EA,
CP Rail shows that collocation alternatives, while preferable,
were not feasible for this project and explains why. The Council
commends CP Rail for seeking collocation. If this project
were before the APA, we would want the CP Rail to exhaust all
collocation possibilities.
Tower Design
The EA discusses
using lattice towers for the project, but also considers monopoles
and “Frankenpines” – fake pine trees. Monopoles
were unfeasible due to installation problems, increased environmental
impacts, and greater visibility. Fake pine trees were ruled out
not only for visual reasons, but because the fake branches would
overhang the railroad and could get in the way. CP Rail states
in the EA, that, “The 150 foot tall “tree” was
found to be grossly out of proportion with the surrounding vegetation.”
CP should
be commended for investigating alternative structures and for
recognizing that 150 foot fake pine trees do not blend into the
landscape of the Adirondack Park.
Please Send
a Letter to DOT
It is extremely
important that we tell DOT what alternative we would like them
to choose and the other good elements of the EA. Please send
your letter today. In your letter,
- Urge DOT
to choose Alternative D. This is the proposal to build 7 towers
in the Park, four - 95 ft towers and three – 75 ft towers.
Tell them to keep the Whallonsburg tower where it is – on
an existing site – and not to move it to Resource Management
lands in Essex.
- Commend CP
Rail for proposing to remove the obsolete wooden poles and wires
along the railway.
- Commend CP
Rail for seeking collocation and investigating alternative tower
designs. Also thank them for rejecting the “Frankenpine”
design.
Please
submit your comments to:
Raymond F. Hessinger, P.E.
NYSDOT Intermodal Projects Bureau
50 Wolf Road POD 54
Albany, New York 12232
email: rhessinger@dot.state.ny.us
WordPerfect,
MS Word, and Adobe Acrobat attachments of less than 1.0 MB are
acceptable.
DOT
will accept public comments on the EA postmarked by August 26,
2005.
To view the Environmental Assessment online, go to: http://www.dot.state.ny.us/fedd/cpr.html.
Please send a
letter to DOT and if you would, send a copy to us as well. (Our
address is on the bottom of this page and emails can be sent
to activists@adirondackcouncil.org.) Thanks for your help.
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