A consent decree announced this week with a U.S.-based international freight transportation company over alleged Clean Air Act (CAA) violations could potentially reduce greenhouse emissions worldwide.
The settlement with Genesee & Wyoming Railroad Services Inc. (GWRSI) over alleged violations of the CAA's locomotive regulations was announced Tuesday by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). GWRSI, a railroad freight holding company with international operations, is alleged to have used locomotives with rebuilt engines that failed to meet EPA emission standards; failed to perform required emissions maintenance; and did not keep maintenance records, according to the announcement.
"The locomotives at issue in this settlement burn diesel fuel, which produces significant emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and fine particulate matter," the agencies report in the announcement. "NOx is a contributor to the formation of summer ozone, and particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns has been shown to cause lung damage and cancer."
EPA regulations order remanufactured locomotive engines, which are typically rebuilt several times during use, to incorporate the latest emission-reducing technology available for the engines' model year. GWRSI calculates it will spend approximately $42 million to satisfy the consent decree's requirements, which would reduce its locomotives' NOx emissions approximately 469 tons per year and particulate matter emissions by 14 tons per year, according to the announcement. The company has also been ordered to pay $1.35 million in civil penalties, the announcement reports.
“Today’s settlement requires GWRSI to bring its fleet of locomotives into compliance with Clean Air Act pollution control requirements,” Larry Starfield, acting assistant administrator of EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “The settlement is expected to reduce tons of nitrogen oxide and particulate matter pollution and improve air quality where their trains operate.”
In addition to complying with the settlement requirements requiring GWRSI remanufacture its locomotives to meet federal requirements and maintain accurate and timely maintenance records, the company must "permanently destroy" 88 locomotives too old to be required to meet EPA emission standards and replace them with locomotives that meet EPA standards, according to the announcement.
“By requiring locomotives to follow emissions standards, and requiring dozens of older, higher-polluting locomotives to be scrapped altogether, this consent decree reduces health threats from air pollution nationwide, particularly in those communities that live along railroad corridors,” Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the DOJ’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, said in the report.
GWRSI, with corporate headquarters in Darien, Conn., owns or has an interest in at least 115 railroads in 10 countries including in 43 states in the U.S. and employs 7,300, according to its website and Wikipedia page.
