ELIZABETHTOWN - The Essex County Board of Supervisors supports a plan by Iowa Pacific to use 30 miles of rail line to haul raw materials in the central Adirondacks.
The railroad company wants to open freight service on the Tahawus Line between Newcomb and North River to haul tailings from the NL Industries and Barton mines, but two environmental groups are challenging the effort. Protect the Adirondacks and the Adirondack Council say easements through state Forest Preserve are void and the train tracks should be torn up, according to news reports.
Essex County lawmakers voted unanimously last week to support Iowa Pacific's application to the federal Surface Transportation Board for the reactivation of the Tahawus rail line.
"I think it is crazy that the environmentalists are out there wanting to tear the tracks up on that line that is so important to the economic recovery in that area," said Moriah town Supervisor Tom Scozzafava. According to Scozzafava, his community lost about 7 miles of rail years ago "because the town at that time did not have enough foresight to see the importance that that railroad may have played in our economic recovery."
Scozzafava said that in some parts of the Adirondack Park, freight service could prove beneficial to local economies. He noted that in Moriah, which was once home to extensive mining operations, Rhodia Rare Earth Systems owns a huge pile of tailings that it wants to move to Texas. Officials from the French company told Scozzafava that a freight line would have been an asset, he said.
Minerva town Supervisor Sue Montgomery-Corey said the re-emergence of a successful tourism train in the Warren County town of Johnsburg is further proof that railroads could lead to economic revitalization.
George Canon, supervisor in the neighboring town of Newcomb, said the rails on the Tahawus line are already "in very good shape." He worked for NL Industries before it closed its local mine.
Canon, who introduced the resolution, said towns in southern Essex County need all the help they can get.
"That could have a huge economic impact," he said of Iowa Pacific's freight plan. The company plans to move forward with its freight plan despite objections from green groups.
The Tahawus line isn't the only railroad generating controversy. In the Tri-Lakes, the Adirondack Recreational Trail Advocates is fighting for removal of the train tracks between Lake Placid and Tupper Lake to build a multi-use recreational trail.