Eastern Railroad Discussion > Maryland rail operation under threat - update2

I was going to wait until the September 2 meeting (see previous posts) for update 2, but new information came to light today.  My understanding now is that some of the landfills being considered as destinations for the trucks that would replace rail haulage from the Shady Grove waste transfer facility near Rockville, Maryland are in Virginia.  These Viginia landfills would be reached by 160 trash truck passages per day over the Washington DC beltway (I-495), including the American Legion  bridge over the Potomac River,which is one of the most conjested spots on the US interstate highway network.  These are not normal two axle garbage trucks, but 18-wheelers carrying containers of garbage.  It twould seem the solution is to upgrade the incinerator at Dickerson or establish a landfill there, thus retaining the existing rail haul, not by adding trucks to already congested highways. 

Not likely that a current incinerator site would meet the technical requirements for a landfill. 

march_hare Wrote:
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> Not likely that a current incinerator site would
> meet the technical requirements for a landfill. former

The site of a decommissioned coal-burning plant is right next to the incinerator.  This seemingly could provide the location for the landfill. Sorry for not mentioning this above.

The trucking lobby has lots of money to give out to the people who make the decisions.  Look at Michigan.  Toronto ships its trash to Michigan by truck.  CN runs from Toronto to Michigan and could haul the trash but nope, all truck  tearing up our roads.