Once again, we’ll be at
Philipsburg Heritage Days
July 8 thru July 11
Stop by and visit our table for the latest information from the STB about the proposed alternate Trash Train route THROUGH Philipsburg! To volunteer at the table, please contact Mary Ann.

Now Available
RAFFLE TICKETS
6 Top Prizes of $100 • 2 Numbers for $5
Winning numbers based on the Pennsylvania Lottery Daily Numbers throughout August 2009. Contact Joann to get your tickets today. Tickets and money must be turned in by July 30.

Runners • Walkers • Supporters
Join Us for
The Great Peale Race
Saturday, August 29 • 10 a.m
Walkers start at 8:30 a.m.

Join us for a 5-mile run/walk on the Snow Shoe Rail-Trail, including the Viaduct Bridge and Peale Tunnel. Race is sponsored by the Nittany Valley Running Club. Proceeds benefit PPC. See Peale Race (and Walk!) Registration Form for more details.

We are seeking volunteers for this event. For more information about how you can help (e.g., man a water station, drive folks up Peale Hill), please contact Mary Ann.

The Cookbooks Are Back!

To order by mail, send your completed order form to:

PPC
PO Box 38
Clarence, PA 16829
 

Shopping the Dump Away through iGive.com • An Anytime Fundraiser
One of our supporters recommended this online resource for fundraising, so here it is!
Do you shop online? Click here for more details...

Donations accepted anytime by mail or through PayPal.

Help us spread the word now that we have reached this critical juncture that requires funding. Download our donation letter and ask friends, family and neighbors to donate to save this forest and “Stop the Landfill.”

Click here for more details or Donate Now with a credit/debit card by clicking on the PayPal button below.

• Hall's Market
• Snow Shoe Sandwich Shop
• Tussey Mountain Outfitters, Bellefonte
• Moshannon Group, Sierra Club

More about our patrons...
 

Visit our STB/Railroad Reading Room for maps and background history regarding the Trash Train.

Download our Proposed Rail Reactivation Map, PPC STB Scoping Comments, PPC Petition, and 100 Reasons flyer to share with family, friends and neighbors.

*** CALL TO ACTION ***

To:  All PPC Members, Rails-to-Trails Members and Users, and Opponents of Industrializing of the Gateway to the PA Wilds

Subject:  Resource Recovery, LLC (RRLLC) Rush Township Landfill and R.J. Corman Railroad (RJCR)

People Protecting Communities (PPC) is asking you to contact your elected federal representatives if you oppose the proposed RRLLC Rush Township Landfill or the proposed RJCR takeover of Rail-to-Trail recreational areas from Wallaceton to Gillentown, including rebuilding the Wallaceton to Gorton section (this would eliminate over 9 miles of the Snow Shoe Rail Trail including the historic Peale Tunnel and Viaduct Bridge).  

Use these editable sample letters for Senator Specter, Senator Casey, and Congressman Thompson to express your opposition and ask for your representatives’ help and support.  These letters are already addressed, just requiring a you to print, add your signature and address, fold, stamp and mail.  Or if you prefer, write your own note to whom you wish, but PLEASE write or call your legislators if you are concerned.  This is very important!

RJCR and RRLLC have now joined forces because we/you have helped block RRLLC’s efforts over the last 5 years.  Their idea is to transport trash by rail, which they feel improves their chances to break the transportation bottleneck issues and thus get the DEP permit for the dump which is their primary target.  Currently, RJCR has a petition before the U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB) to obtain rail right-of-way from Wallaceton (Clearfield County) to Gillentown (Snow Shoe Township, Centre County) and to rebuild the rail line from Wallaceton to Gorton for the purpose of running trash trains from New York/New Jersey to Rush Township.  If this petition is granted, it will become less difficult for RRLLC to obtain the DEP landfill permit.  Thus, if you are opposed to this project, this response is worth your effort.

A critical step in the STB approval process is their Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).  The rail line petition can be analyzed as a separate, single project or a connected, integrated project relative to the landfill.  If STB judges it as stand-alone (single project), the EIS analysis will only address rail line construction and operation.  If STB judges it as an integrated part or connected to the landfill, then the EIS analysis addresses the whole package, including the landfill, which is the true situation.  It is important that STB recognize this truth and decide the landfill and railroad are connected actions.  This is why the postcard is worded this way.

If you have some other suggestions or want to help in some other way, please contact us by email at catnapb@verizon.net, or send a note with your contact information to PPC, PO Box 38, Clarence, PA  16829 and we will have one of our members give you a call.  We are interested in what you have to say or want to do.

Please send your letters ASAP .

PPC’s attorney, Robert McKinstry, recently sent additional comments (attachments in STB reading room) to the Surface Transportation Board supporting our request to have the rail line construction/reactivation and landfill, quarry, and industrial park reviewed as a single project (connected action) for the EIS. These comments were sent to dispute a letter by R.J. Corman’s attorney arguing that both the rail line and landfill should be reviewed as stand-alone projects. Do you think there is a need for one without the other? If you agree with us, please mail your letters.

More You Can Do to Help...

Donate to our legal defense fund

Our attorney(s), although expensive, have been invaluable in helping us deal with this complex railroad issue. We would not have been effective without them. Donations can be mailed to:

People Protecting Communities
PO Box 38
Clarence, PA 16829
or click on the image below to donate via Paypal

Contact Your Legislators!

Let them know you are opposed to this “rail line to nowhere.” Ask them to contact Danielle Gosselin of the Surface Transportation Board at 395 E Street SW, Washington, D.C., 20423 to request that the proposed action for the Surface Transportation Board’s Draft Scope of Study for the Environmental Impact Statement for Finance Docket No. 35116 be reviewed as a connected action including the proposed rail line, hauled contents, landfill, quarry, and industrial park rather than a single action for only the rail line. This is the only way a thorough and fair environmental assessment can be made.

For complete information on the proposed Railroad Reactivation, please visit our STB Reading Room

Ever wonder what waste by rail would be like? Check out the following short video and then imagine 55 carloads of trash per day heading our way, 6 days a week for who knows how long. (The train in the video is hauling about 63 cars.)

Please share this video with everyone you know, particularly those living along this line. Federal law requires trains approaching street level crossings to sound their horns for 15 to 20 seconds between 96 to 110 decibels (about as loud as a jackhammer next to your ear) according to the Federal Railroad Administration rules.

Thanks to the Alliance Landfill Blogspot and the folks at the Alliance Landfill Task Force for finding this video.

Stay tuned.

Stay involved.

Stay informed.

Spread the Word!

This site contains PDF file downloads. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader, you may download a free version here.

©2005-2009 People Protecting Communities • last updated June 29, 2009
This site has been developed, designed and maintained with 100% volunteer work. No funds are used.
Please report problems to our volunteer WebHead, TechieR