Proposed NS intermodal yard draws opposition in East Tennessee
(The Associated Press circulated the following on June 21, 2009.)
NEW MARKET, Tenn. More than 100 people gathered at an East Tennessee school to speak out against a proposed Norfolk Southern rail yard where freight would be exchanged between trucks and trains.
The Knoxville News Sentinel reports that opponents are writing letters to Norfolk Southern executives and government officials. At the Saturday meeting at the school, landowner Debbie Berry said she fears her peaceful nights in rural Jefferson County will be replaced by thundering freight cars and 100-foot-tall floodlights.
Norfolk Southern has said the facility would mean removing as many as 1.2 million truckloads of freight annually from the highway, helping traffic and air quality.
The proposed site would cover several hundred acres of farmland.
