The city hired Central Illinois Railroad to provide rail service to Pioneer Park over the new $2-million western connection. But prices were so high over that connection that it was actually cheaper to truck materials than bring them in by rail, which is probably why the western spur (the portion of the rail line that has been there for decades before it was recently connected to the Kellar Branch) was never successful, but the Kellar Branch was.
However, the western connection has started being used again. Central Illinois Railroad (CIRY) recently lost a contract up in Elk Grove Village to operate trackage in Centex Industrial Park. So the speculation is that the tank cars CIRY had been storing up there are the ones they recently moved down here. David Jordan reported on this on his transportation blog here and here.
That prompted a most interesting discussion at the May 8 city council meeting. Here’s how it was recorded in the official minutes (emphasis added), interspersed with my comments:
Council Member Sandberg referred to the storage of rail cars on the Keller Branch Railroad and he questioned if Central Illinois Rail had an agreement with the City to store any rail cars on the Keller Branch.
Sandberg is referring to these cars, parked on the Kellar Branch by Chanute Road:
Corporation Counsel Randy Ray said the City did not have an agreement with Central Illinois Rail on the Keller Branch south of Pioneer Parkway. He said the City had an agreement from the west with D.O.T. that would give them trackage rights to serve from the west and from the west would include that area in Pioneer Park. He explained the agreement did not specifically allow for the storage of cars, but it did not prohibit the practice either. He said, it was his understanding, as long as the storage of cars did not interfere with service, the practice would be allowed.
It’s interesting that he mentioned the agreement the city has is with “D.O.T.” — actually it’s called “DOT Rail Services,” and that company no longer owns Central Illinois Railroad. They sold off CIRY to a newly formed entity called “Central Illinois Railroad Holdings, LLC.” So, there is some question over whether that agreement is still in effect, since Article 12 states that DOT cannot “transfer, assign or convey the rights granted hereunder without the written consent of the CITY and only upon the condition that the assignee shall abide by all terms, conditions and agreements hereof.”
But assuming the contract is still valid, Article 5.5 states clearly that, “The movement of engines, cars and trains of the DOT on said tracks shall be performed pursuant to federal, state and local government laws and regulations.” The City’s municipal code requires that hazardous materials be reported to the Fire Marshal, and depending on what materials are in the tank cars and how much material is in them, there may be permits or licenses that need to be purchased. None of that was done.
Corporation Counsel Ray said, much like the agreement with D.O.T.’s predecessor, the agreement was silent to specific storage. He said there were other regulations that prohibited storing large amounts of hazardous waste or materials, for example. In response to a question from Council Member Sandberg, he added Central Illinois Rail did not request permission from the City to store cars on the rail, nor did they provide advance notice.
Isn’t the Sierra Club and Peoria Families Against Toxic Waste strangely silent on this issue? I mean, the tank cars are right next to the trail. Why aren’t there any complaints about this hazard to public health and safety? I would think they’d be all over it.
City Manager Randy Oliver said an opinion from the rail attorney was received and he advised, if a car was passing through the City of Peoria, the City would not have the right to make an inspection. He stated if a rail car was stored on the track, the City would have the right to inspect the rail car. He said he would request Fire Chief Kent Tomblin and his team to make an inspection of the cars to determine what was being stored, if anything. He added a fee would be charged for the inspection, if it was provided for under an Ordinance and if the rail attorney determined a fee was chargeable.
In discussion with Council Member Nichting regarding if the City would be able to recover a viable amount based on the City’s investment in the rail due to the allowance of real estate law’s 12% rate of return, Corporation Counsel Randy Ray agreed and he said he would work on reaching an agreement that would provide such a return.
Following further discussion, Council Member Sandberg discussed safety issues and he said he agreed with Council Member Nichting’s comments.
Now we’re talking. Inspect the cars and charge any and all applicable fees. I wonder if there will be a report back on this item at tomorrow’s council meeting. I can’t wait to hear.
It’s a little galling that CIRY won’t provide service over the Kellar Branch (which is still active until the Surface Transportation Board says otherwise) and can’t provide competitive service over the western connection for our local Peoria business, but it can use the trackage for some out-of-town company’s hazardous materials storage. We, the taxpayers, did not build that $2-million western connection for this purpose.
Got a bigger picture? If we had the numbers in a readable fashion, some of us could tell you what is/was in the tankers.
Here’s a picture I took closer up. Does this help? I’m not sure what numbers you’re looking for. Without reading the numbers, I would guess it’s carrying propylene, which as I understand it, is highly flammable.
From wiki:
Propylene, also known by its IUPAC name propene, is an organic compound having the chemical formula C3H6. It is the second simplest member of the alkene class of hydrocarbons, ethylene (ethene) being the simplest. At room temperature and pressure, propylene is a gas. It is colorless (mercaptan, a hydrocarbon with an odor similar to garlic is sometimes added to propylene to make it more easily detectable), and highly flammable. It is found in coal gas and can be synthesized by cracking petroleum. Propylene is a major commodity in the petrochemicals industry. The main use of propylene is as a monomer, mostly for the production of polypropylene. Propylene is also used as a fuel gas for various industrial processes. It has a similar calorific value to propane, but a lower mass of combustion products, so it has a higher flame temperature. Propylene also has approximately twice the vapour pressure of propane at room temperature and pressure.
* Inhalation reference exposure level
3,000 micrograms/m3 (2,000 ppb)
* Hazard index
Respiratory system
* Critical effects: squamous metaplasia (males and females), epithelial hyperplasia (females only), inflammation of the nasal cavity in Fischer 344/N rats (males only)
Ah but what is Polypropylene?
Polypropylene or polypropene (PP) is a thermoplastic polymer, made by the chemical industry and used in a wide variety of applications, including food packaging, ropes, textiles, plastic parts and reusable containers of various types, thermal pants and shirts made for the military, laboratory equipment, loudspeakers, automotive components, and polymer banknotes. An addition polymer made from the monomer propylene, it is rugged and unusually resistant to many chemical solvents, bases and acids. Its resin identification code is the number 5 surrounded by a recycling symbol, with the letters “P P” below.
Those cars are empty, not loaded, and the ones with haz-mat placards probably have petroleum gas product residue in them.
It appears that the primary concern is legal, though I hope those cars’ brakes have been set – use of tie plates and pieces of discarded railroad ties for chalking will not prevent such cars from rolling freely (most likely toward Pioneer Parkway where CIRY is parking its locomotive).
Also, more hypocrisy from the PPD, Journal Star, City Council and trail proponents in that they screamed bloody murder when Pioneer didn’t just vacate the Kellar Branch on the date the city interpreted was the end of their contract (July 10, 2004), yet CIRY continues to operate on City-owned trackage months without a contract (not transfered from D.O.T.). The difference, of course, is that CIRY is cooperating with the trail project while PIRY (wisely) would not.
Since when did Peoria Families become a part of the trail issue, CJ? We are indeed “Against Toxic Waste,” but to the best of my knowledge, we’ve never heard about these cars. Also, I don’t think we’ve taken an official position on the trail, which has little to do with our main purpose (PDC’s hazardous waste landfill). How long have they been there? Is there even anything in them?
If you find that there is something in them, post again. But right now, we’ve got our hands full with hazardous materials we know are present in Peoria. (Please don’t let this sound too snarky, I don’t mean it to be). If there is something in them, I volunteer to bring it up at our next meeting.
PFATW has nothing to do with the trail, other than they are against hazardous materials in places that would potentially compromise public safety and some members (notably Blumenshine) in that group are also ardent trail supporters. That was the only connection I was trying to make.
What does it take to get the city of Peoria and Peoria Heights to get a proper contract with CIRY? They were certainly picky enough when PIRY was on contract. Here we have a business that has changed hands several times and no one right now seems to have a written contract with the city, but they are using city property to make money. What is wrong with this picture?
cgiselle,
Those tank cars first arrived in late April. I saw ten of them being delivered April 30, but six were already stored at the park. Eight more were there the next afternoon (probably came with the other ten) and another five were in place by May 2 or 3. The cars were pushed north and there is room for additional cars. Last I knew there were 29 of them. Some (16 of 29 have placards) may contain petroleum gas residue, which could be hazardous, but likely nothing will happen.
Don’t forget, David, they crossed Allen Road with no signals working; only a flagger on the ground. This is a poor, poor operation. Check the mainline switch just north of Pioneer Parkway where the locomotive is parked. It’s not locked, in violation of FRA mandate.
So where is the FRA inspector? Looking out for us? HA! Dead silence from there. Wonder who’s been telling the FRA to ignore CIRY? – and when will their luck run out?
Mouse,
The CIRY train’s conductor flagged the crossing that night, which complies with FRA rules. I think CIRY is a Mickey Mouse operation, however, and the STB should restore PIRY’s operating authority (before the end of the century).
The tankers have been brought up at a recent city council meeting and a hazmat team from the Peoria Fire Department has been dispatched to investigate. There will be a charge for this and it will be sent to the CIRY or DOT, whichever put them there. They are empty, properly stored and all are in good condition according to Battalion Chief Emil Steinseifer. It is still in question if the proper forms were filed before they were parked. There is also a Hazmat Ordinance fee that needs to be investigated. Mr. Jordan probably can inform you more about that. Attend the city council meeting tonight and see where all of this is headed.
That is all after the fact. If the rail watchers hadn’t called attention to the fact that this had happened, the city wouldn’t have done anything and CIRY would have gotten away with it. What do you think would happen if I parked a giant dumpster marked Hazardous Waste in my backyard? I hope to God the City’s response to my neighbors wouldn’t be “We believe it is empty, we went to check but it was locked, we’ll have to get back to you”
Keith,
Take a look at how CIRY chocked the wheels of these tank cars (click to enlarge):
Look safe to you? Think that little piece of kindling that looks like it might have accidentally fallen on the track is sufficient chocking? I mean, it’s not like CIRY has ever had a runaway train before so that we’d need to worry about such things, right?
This does not look good to me. Maybe Mr. Jordan & the TP&W knows someone that can review. Something must be done. We did bring the hazardous material situation to the council and it was done for the safety of the community, not to get this section of track removed. The best way to get something done is to make it known publicly how you feel, i.e. the city council meeting tonight.
Playing the opposite side here, but they aren’t exactly on a hill, are they? They are not just going to start rolling anywhere?
Do you leave your car in neutral, ever? I am not sure how the brakes work. I used to drive a semi and we always chocked the trailer when leaving it somewhere even though the brakes are on when no air is applied. Same thing with my tractors on the flat concrete in the barn. True they will not move unless acted on by another force, but crazy things happen. Better safe than sorry.
After last weeks council meeting, I talked with Chief Tomlin. I asked him to if placards must be left on Haz/Mat containers until they have been properly sanatized. He said yes. Then I asked if DOT, OSHA, and the EPA all consider any container with a visible placard is still hazardous. Again he said yes. No matter if a container “looks” empty, no matter how minute the residue, it will contain hazardous material until it has been sanitized properly.
Hey it’s CIRY’s line or at least the city has allowed them to operate it. What would you expect to see on a rail line? Joggers?