Activists: We don't need no stinkin' gas

Something is rotten in the state of Marble Hill’s Metro-North station, according to local activists.

They say that since 2011, fumes from idling diesel trains have been wafting into apartment windows across the street, causing headaches and respiratory problems.

“We’re talking between 45 and 90 minutes each time, up to three times every night,” resident and Bronx Climate Justice North activist Clare Donahue explained. The trains belong to the rail liner CSX, which leases the use of Metro-North’s commuter lines.

Reached for comment, the MTA confirmed that the neighborhood’s diesel fume problem has a “history.” A spokesperson also said the agency has talked to local elected officials and CSX “to determine if any operational changes can be made to minimize train dwell time in the vicinity.”

But residents like Ms. Donahue and her fellow activist Jennifer Scarlott say that by now, the pattern is familiar. They raise a stink with media organizations, who cover the issue, and freight trains promptly refrain from idling at the station. But within a few weeks, or even days, the smell will be back in Ms. Donahue’s 225th-Street apartment, which lies immediately adjacent to the tracks.

Activists said this week that after four years of communicating through elected officials and the Metro-North press office, they want to have a “sit-down” with the agency’s top officials to get lasting results for the problem.

Metro-North confirmed that, according to the lease agreement signed by CSX, two northbound and two southbound freight trains use the commuter tracks on weekdays. Sometimes three to four of the trains use the tracks at night.

The Environmental Protection Agency reports on its website that, based on laboratory studies, “there is considerable evidence that diesel exhaust is a likely carcinogen” and that chronic exposure to the fumes coincides with a higher incidence of lung cancer.