ICYMI: Gas-Filled Train Cars Being Stored Near West Morris Central Campus

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LONG VALLEY, N.J. – Washington Township is one of three Morris County towns, in conjunction with the Morris County Board of Chosen Freeholders, who are filing a restraining order against a railway company that has begun storing train cars filled with butane and propane gases on the tracks.

The Morristown & Erie Railway, which operates rail services along the High Bridge Branch railway in the townships of Roxbury and Mt. Olive, has contracted with Gibson Gas to store rail cars containing butane along the tracks in Mt. Olive.

Those tracks, however, border Washington Township, specifically the campus of West Morris Central High School, and may pose a serious threat of explosion that would impact residents and property for miles if an incident occurred.

According to M&E, the High Bridge Branch is a 7.3-mile line that has been in operation since 1986. The branch begins at the Ferromonte Junction, where it connects to the Chester Branch, and travels through Roxbury, Mt. Olive, and Flanders.

The tracks begin roughly 2,000 feet from Central’s school building.

The contract between Morristown & Erie Railway and Gibson Gas is a one-year agreement to store up to 100 liquefied butane and propane cars on the High Bridge Branch. While the railway has said all federally-required safety and security requirements are in place, local and county government officials have expressed safety concerns and have taken legal action to stop the railway company.

On Tuesday, the county filed legal papers seeking a restraining order to prevent the railway from storing cars filled with propane and butane on the tracks, and asked the court to prevent Morristown & Erie Railway from fulfilling a contractual agreement with Gibson Gas. There are currently 18 cars already being stored on the tracks.

The county owns the actual rail line, and contends M&E did not adhere to its contractual agreement to seek county approval for any uses on the rail line other than commercial freight hauling.

The contract between Morris County and M&E is five years in length and due to expire June 30, 2017.

“At no point was I, nor any of my staff, contacted by anyone from M&E to discuss emergency response preparedness or contingency plans,’’ said Scott DiGiralomo, Morris County Director of Law and Public Safety and County Emergency Management Coordinator. “In essence, the loaded rail cars were moved into the county before the emergency response community had the opportunity to plan a specific response for an emergency involving a large number of LPG (propane and butane containing) rail cars.’’

The Morris County Office of Emergency Management has been working with emergency responders from the three involved towns to prepare for a possible incident.

“The Morris County Office of Emergency Management in coordination with the Morris County municipalities and their emergency response services, recognize the need for a coordinated response for these low probability, high impact incidents,” the organization said in a statement to Patch. “As a result, we have joined together in the development of a Rail Incident Response Plan to deal with any issues that were to develop while these rail tank cars travel through and/or remain stored within Morris County.”

The storage of butane and propane would remain on the tracks until all supplies were used by Gibson Gas customers.

Request for comment by Patch to Morristown & Erie Railways was not returned.

To see both of the legal filings, click here and here.

Patch File Photo