With environmental review over, federal board can vote on Kings Park rail proposal

The federal board that will decide whether to authorize a controversial 5,000-foot rail line in Kings Park will vote on the project after recently finishing an environmental review, although the timetable is unclear.

The Surface Transportation Board hasn't set a date for the vote, according to its spokesman Michael Booth.

The federal board recently released its final environmental assessment of the proposal from Townline Rail Terminal LLC for the construction and operation of a rail line that would haul away incinerator ash and construction debris. Inbound trains would carry lumber, cars and materials such as sand and gravel that can be used to make concrete or asphalt.

Kings Park-based CarlsonCorp Inc. owns Townline Rail Terminal and needs approval from the federal freight rail regulator to bring such a rail spur onto 82 acres near Town Line and Pulaski roads. It would branch off the Long Island Rail Road's Port Jefferson line.

The federal board has final authority on approving and building the rail line, but the Town of Smithtown and the state would have to approve or deny permits for anything else on the rest of the site, such as buildings and driveways, Smithtown spokeswoman Nicole Garguilo said previously.

The board's final environmental assessment maintained its February findings that the company’s plan for the rail line would have “negligible” impacts on the surrounding environment, except for vegetation, wildlife habitats, and threatened and endangered species.

Impacts on those resources could be “minimized” with strategies including compliance with dust control requirements and federal decibel noise limits for train operations, and working to cut back on construction-related air pollutant emissions. 

In its final report, the board added a new requirement that such a rail project use lighting poles with a maximum height of 25 feet at the east and west sections of the property.

Toby Carlson, who owns CarlsonCorp, said in a recent interview he was glad the report found any environmental impacts “are minimal” and could be mitigated.

But Kings Park Civic Association president Linda Henninger told the Smithtown Town Board at a June meeting that the report was disappointing. That day, she and other civic leaders asked town board members to withdraw support for the project following a vote on April 2.

That day, legislators voted 4-0 on a measure — with Town Supervisor Ed Wehrheim abstaining — that said the town board “ratifies” a letter Wehrheim sent to the federal board on Oct. 28, 2022. The letter said “the town is supportive of Townline's petition because there is mounting pressure on towns and villages due to the anticipated 2024 closing of the Town of Brookhaven's Yaphank landfill facility.”

The letter further stated that “shipping waste off of Long Island by rail — provided it can be done in a manner that protects the public's health and safety — appears to be a feasible option” for alternative ways of disposing of construction debris. 

Garguilo, the town spokeswoman, told Newsday after the vote that the letter only meant the town had no problem with Townline filing its project request with the federal board, and that the town board hadn't taken a position for or against the rail project.