Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, November 20, 1993 TAG: 9311200126
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium
Coal dust, presumably drifting from the nearby Lamberts Point terminal, leaves a sooty film that tracks into her house from the porch deck. So she asks visitors to use the back door.
"I'd like to send them the cleaning bills for my carpets," she said.
Coates' problem is widely shared in Norfolk neighborhoods bordering Norfolk Southern Corp.'s tracks and its coal-loading operations at Lamberts Point.
For nearly two decades, residents have pestered the railroad about the problem, as have Virginia air quality regulators.
Norfolk Southern has responded by taking some control measures, but critics say the railroad has mostly dodged the issue. That may be changing, however.
Threatened with state legislation and increasing public outcry, Norfolk Southern has spent three years measuring coal dust emissions along the 360 miles of track from Bluefield, W.Va., to Norfolk.
Starting this spring, the railroad will begin spraying some of its dustiest coal with a chemical that forms a hard crust. The effort was made public by the company last week.
"Our traditional positions haven't always been constructive," admitted J.W. Fox Jr., a Norfolk Southern spokesman in Roanoke. Coal dust "has been a nuisance to some people, and I regret that."
Three years ago, the General Assembly looked at a bill that would have required the railroad to cover its 45,000 coal cars with tarpaulins. Norfolk Southern succeeded in getting the measure killed, but the legislature formed a committee to study the coal dust problem.
"I hope we can get some legislation out this year, but I'm not sure that's the consensus of the committee," said state Sen. Madison Marye, D-Shawsville, a member of the study group. "We've been stalling on this."
Meantime, the railroad has pursued its own studies.
G. David Emmitt, a Charlottesville-based atmospheric physicist, worked on measuring the extent of Norfolk Southern's dust emissions and is recommending solutions to the railroad.
Using special computers and sensors, Emmitt has recorded coal dust clouds billowing up to 40 feet high off trains. He has calculated that as much as 600 pounds of coal can blow off a 100-ton carload during the trip from West Virginia.
"Clearly, not all coals are a problem," Emmitt said. "Some of them never dust. Part of what we're doing is to try and discriminate between coals."
Emmitt also has worked with U.S. chemical manufacturers to come up with a spray that will harden coal enough to keep it from dusting without damaging it. He also is recommending new ways to load and haul coal.
Norfolk Southern's chemical hardener will be in use by the spring. Initially, about 25 percent of the dustiest coal will be sprayed at the point of departure.
"We think that will make a noticeable difference," Fox said.
Coates said she hopes so.
"There is no excuse for this," she said, shaking her head at the black pits on her house's aluminum siding. "None."
by CNB