End Of The Line
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(Thursday) July 1, 2010
A week ago, alexadrianews.org reported that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled against the City of Alexandria in the matter of the Norfolk Southern Ethanol Transloading Facility that was opened just over two years ago. The decision is hardly surprising. The federal law governing rail transportation is what it is and localities have little say. The Court agreed with Norfolk Southern’s argument that rail transportation would descend into chaos if thousands of local governments could impose their own regulation on carriers. The City must now decide whether to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court or to drop the matter.
Total fees paid to Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell in briefing and arguing the appeal to the Fourth Circuit over the course of nine months was $118,570. There were expenses in the amount of $6136.48 for a total appellate cost of $124,706.48, according to the City Attorney’s office.
It is time to drop the matter. Previous City Councils rushed to litigate issues at a very high cost. The results were uniformly dismal with millions of taxpayer dollars spent on case after case. In times of budget constraints and tax hikes, there should be little money available for such activities and rightly so. Lawsuits can not make up for poor administration and decision-making. The City had two years notice of the establishment of the Ethanol Transloading Facility and it failed to mobilize against it. Relying on spurious legal doctrine is a poor substitute for foresighted political action. Elected leaders who exhibited outrage after the fact and vowed legal action are simply trying to cover up their own mistakes and inadequacies. We need leaders who are proactive. We need leaders who can see the total consequences of proposed acts before the citizens become upset.
These poor decisions have given us an ethanol Transloading Facility near residential developments and an elementary school. It is imperative that City agencies concerned focus on health and safety issues. Once we stop fighting Norfolk Southern, we should move toward a more cooperative existence with them. Norfolk Southern, like the City, has a compelling interest in ensuring the safety of the facility. If Norfolk Southern must have such an operation at it’s Alexandria facility, we all must work to make it the safest site of its kind. Our citizens deserve that kind of protection.