submitted by Verna Kosiba
For several years before and since 2005, I was an interested observer of the New London CT eminent domain court case. The results of that case … legally and subsequently, showed me that the little guy NEVER wins when up against big government and/or large commercial enterprises; regardless of the rightness of the cause. The New London experience was why I was never part of the STB petition. My issue was, and continues to be, the night time noise generated by the pellet facility in Upton. To me, that issue is clear cut … railroads are not preempted from the Clean Air Act, the noise generated by the pellet facility (when running its compressor) is documented as exceeding legal limits, it shouldn’t be running at night when people are trying to sleep, and enforcement is under the jurisdiction of our local Board of Health. Unhappily, in real life, things are not that simple.
I have learned something, though, and wish to pass this lesson on. Be very careful who you vote for. Whether at the federal, state, or local level; whoever is in power not only gets to make the laws but also how they will interpret those laws and which of those laws they choose to enforce. And be very, very careful when governmental power starts to get concentrated. It is then that the boards, agencies, and branches of government that were meant to provide balance and protection for the average person start, instead, provide protection for each other.
Verna Kosiba, Upton
UPTON DAILY 
I wasn’t going to respond, but have been encouraged to do so by numerous friends and neighbors:
1. I am not an abutter. Though I admit to being in the second tier of those physically near the pellet plant. And also admit to having been ear to noise complaints from people living as far as a mile away from the plant
2. I have never complained about the railroad or even about the general operations of the pellet plant. Those who have actually read my concern know that it is about the pellet plant noise that keeps me (and others) awake at night (like tonight,)
3. The Federal Clean Air act’s enforcement authority regarding noise pollution lies in the hands and statute of each State and town so our State noise level of no more than 10dba over ambient is, in fact, enforceable by our Town and Mass DEP even for a railroad.
Dear Verna, don’t you think your statement is little misleading when you say you are not part of the seven abutters who went to the STB when ” Richard Kosiba” is listed on the filing. Are we to assume you have no input in what your husband is doing and paying legal bills to crush this business? Also don’t you by now realize that ALL state and local permits , regulations etc etc are preempted and the only reason numerous steps have been taken by the railroad regarding “noise” ,from what I read ,is because they are working with our town leaders even though based on court case win from the STB they are preempted and have no obligation to do so?Why then do you insist on making statements that you and your fellow petitioner husband know are 100% not true? Please leave us residents and this business free from this endless rhetoric of your misguided agenda.
Really! All that rhetoric and nothing about the one and only important fact: There is loud noise coming from the pellet plant that keeps a large number of Upton residents awake at night.
All that rhetoric does show, however, that 1: you don’t understand the meaning of the word abutter which is “An abutter is a person (or entity) whose property is adjacent to the property of another”, which I am not. 2: you don’t understand relationships, marital, personal, business, modern or whatever where people can honestly and respectfully disagree. And 3: that I, at least have the integrity to use my own name so that people can make their own assessment of my personal biases, where as you hide behind a pseudonym.
Tired Upton Resident? Really?
This your 3 rd negative letter to the editor dealing with the railroad. The preemption case has been decided and NOT in your favor;the private meetings with Sen Moore have been concluded despite political pressure have yielded nothing but more friction; your false interpretations and statements of EPA regs as viable in this case are misleading; the constant drumbeat of your desire to shut this business down is really getting stale and begs the question why do you choose to live next to an active railroad, a zoned industrial park, a former burning dump and land fill? Do you realize your property is industrial and you are the non conforming use? From what I can see after the years of constant harassment by the abutters and the efforts by the railroad to appease them there is no solution other than the railroad folding. Based on their obvious investment I don’t think that is going to happen . That leaves one choice – move and let the rest of the residents in Upton have a break from your broken record .
Not all of Upton agrees with you, but even if it did, your mud-slinging is not called for.
Mr Frog, the mud slingers here are the abutters- they have harassed this business from day 1 and the balance of us residents in Upton should not be subjected to the actions of these abutters any more-they had their day in court -it’s over -they and you need to accept it.
“railroads are not preempted from the Clean Air Act, the noise generated by the pellet facility (when running its compressor) is documented as
exceeding legal limits”.. I suggest that she needs to take a closer look at the Clean Air Act. It does not establish any “legal limit” that I can find in it..http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/7641
Most towns have a noise ordinance. Doesn’t Upton?
If the railroad is preempted from local ordinances under the Code of Federal Regulations then the town’s noise ordinance is inapplicable. The STB has determined that the railroad is preempted, sooooooooo…