If you have been paying attention to the lawsuit between the Grafton & Upton Railroad and the Town of Grafton you will know recently the Federal Court had remanded the case back to the Worcester Superior Court for further disposition. Worcester Superior Court Judge John S. McCann heard summations and left the preliminary injunction in place so no work on the propane transloading facility can take place. The judge accepted a joint proposal from the G&U RR and the Town of Grafton to refer the matter to the federal Surface Transportation Board.
On June 24 the Grafton & Upton Railroad filed a Petition for a Declaratory Order before the Surface Transportation Board. You can read the entire document here – Grafton Propane Transloading STB filing 713 (1). The Petition outlines the following:
- History of G&U RR and business development
- Development of the plan for the propane transloading facility
- Communication with the Town of Grafton
- Litigation by the Town of Grafton to prevent construction of the transloading facility
- The new structure for construction and operation
- Need for expedition
Under the section “The New Structure for Construction and Operation” G&U states “Following the issuance of the state court injunction on June 12, 2013 and the referral of the preemption issue to the Board, G&U and the Propane Companies discussed the status of the propane transloading project. As a result of these discussions, G&U and the Propane Companies have agreed to terminate the letter of intent and the 3 agreements, which have been countersigned by the Propane Companies indicating their acceptance of the terminations. The effect of the Termination Agreements is to eliminate any participation by or role of the Propane Companies in connection with the construction or operation of the transloading facility.” In this section G&U states they intend to complete the transloading facility with their own employees and resources.
G&U argues in part “The only basis for the Town’s position that preemption did not apply has been the contention that the involvement of the Propane Companies meant that the transloading, which the town conceded was ‘transportation’, would allegedly not be conducted by or under the auspices of a ‘rail carrier.’ With the implementation of the Termination Agreements, the only alleged basis for the Town’s opposition has been removed, leaving the Board with a very straightforward analysis”
G&U Railroad have requested the Board to expedite a decision.
For more coverage see Richard Price’s article here .
Here is a recent ruling regarding the Town of Winchester and Pan Am in which the STB adopted an expedited procedural schedule with replies due on July 10 and the decision filed on July 19. This is a case where the RR prevailed. If you like reading RR legal documents and decisions, have fun B&M PanAm Winchester STB Final Decision 713 (this case is different than the Upton petitioners and the Town of Grafton’s case but is an interesting read)
photo courtesy of friends of G&U RR facebook
UPTON DAILY 