Norfolk Southern to 'idle' noisy train-sorting system

GROTON TWP. — A railway corporation will slam the brakes on operating its noisy train-sorting system, which many nearby property owners deem as a major nuisance. Five years after debuting the $160 million expanded Moorman Yard, a Norfolk Southern representative confirmed the company plans on temporarily shutting down one very noticeable feature sometime this week. "Due to declining car volumes, Norfolk Southern will idle the yard's hump and begin flat-switching rail cars," company spokesman Jeff DeGraff said. Flat-switching is a more "traditional" approach to sorting trains. A hump, or an artificially elevated area within a railroad yard, helps to decelerate freight cars before they're sorted into trains. Moorman's hump is visible to traffic driving on Ohio 4's overpass at the border of Erie and Huron counties. "The business disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the need for this transition to compensate for lower car volumes," DeGraff said. "This alteration will allow for greater efficiencies and customer service that achieves the goals set forth in the company's strategic plan," DeGraff said. "Unfortunately, as a result of these changes, some furloughs will be necessary." When asked if an ongoing lawsuit played any factor in Norfolk Southern's decision, DeGraff said no. "As (traffic) levels fluctuate, Norfolk Southern will continue to make operational adjustments and changes, as necessary, to gain efficiencies and improve customer service." The lawsuit In 2017, the Sandusky-based Murray & Murray law firm filed a class-action lawsuit against Norfolk Southern to address what lawyers characterized as "one of the most macabre forms of environmental contamination, in the form of noise pollution." The litigation aimed to hush the shrieks, screeches and squeals loudly echoing — all day, all night, every day for almost five years now. Ear-piercing noises stem from the retarder's mechanisms to slow down cars. For whatever reason, when Norfolk Southern spent $160 million on the Moorman Yard's addition, effectively doubling its size, it didn't invest any money on a device to deafen these boisterous noises. The result? Sound levels routinely exceed 100 decibels, equivalent to a jet flying directly over someone's head. "Residents are unable to hold conversations, open windows or hear their televisions," according to the lawsuit. "This has resulted in a nuisance, which has, in turn, decreased property values as well as (creating) stress, adverse health impacts and loss of the enjoyment of life. None of this is necessary because Norfolk Southern has available to it sound-dampening options at a fraction of the cost of its investment." While receiving almost unanimous support from almost 100 people living nearby, the law firm filed a lawsuit on behalf of two residents: Norm Jacobs and Michael Nottke. "If my backyard was a workplace, I would be legally forced to wear earplugs," Jacobs told the Register in 2015. "There are times when it's so loud inside, it's unbearable, and our doors and windows are closed. The noise will wake you up and keep you up at night." The outcome While the courts didn't offer a final verdict, Murray & Murray still considers Norfolk Southern's decision as a short-term win for residents. "We have been hearing the same thing from people in and around the yard: This would be welcome news to the neighbors of the yard," lead attorney Dennis Murray Jr. said. "The litigation will continue because they've suffered five years of this, and it could be reopened at any time." Murray then further explained the residents' frustration with this hump. "There was no reason that they should have had to put up with this for the last five years, though, because the solution was readily apparent to the railroad," Murray added. "Sure it would have had to invest a few hundred thousand dollars in noise-reducing equipment, but in comparison to the $160 million investment that they are now walking away from, the cost would have been in the range of (less than two-tenths of 1 percent) or much less than they took away from their neighbors of their ability to live in their own homes." Murray's brother, law firm colleague and fellow case attorney Charlie Murray agrees. "The local residents hired us to put an end to the practice of humping rail cars at all hours of the day and night or recover economic damages for the loss of use of their property," Charlie said. "The Norfolk Southern railroad fought us at every turn, hiring experts to defend themselves and an extra set of experts to challenge our experts." He continued: "At no time did the Norfolk Southern litigation department ever try to create a reasonable solution or bring closure to the litigation. Instead, they argued that the company spent millions of dollars and employed hundreds of people. Now the community has seen another company use them until it was no longer in their interest and then leave the area with practically an abandoned industrial site and empty promises."