Legitimate concerns about rail yard relocation

Below are two of the reasons why members of TRRAAC, an organization of neighbors, desire that governmental authorities explore the relative feasibility and desirability of proposed alternate sites for the relocation of the Nofolk Southern rail yard:

As currently proposed by F&M, the project would take a 100 year old railyard, in and surrrounded by an established industrial zone, and relocate it to a site bordered by residential neighborhoods. To now locate such a facility next to neighborhoods built in a residential, non-industrial area is just plain wrong and verges on illegal taking something of value.

At the June meeting, after viewing the noise isoplats (rings of equal noise levels at some defined level), the consultants were urged to produce isoplat maps charting the MAXIMUM impact (impulse) noise levels, to present a true representation of what neighbors could expect to encounter from rail yard activities such as coupling and uncoupling of rail cars. Such isoplats would present a better, more realistic idea of how much disturbance there would be a night! F&M / LGH have declined to pursue the matter.