By: ALEXANDER MACINNES
BERGEN RECORD

PATERSON - City and state officials celebrated a new federal law that will strengthen local oversight of solid waste transfer stations along railroad lines.

The law, which President Bush signed last week, closes a federal loophole that prohibited states from enforcing environmental, health and safety regulations at rail sites, according to a statement from Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., who co-sponsored the Clean Railroads Act of 2008.

Paterson is one of nine cities in the state that currently have one of these transfer stations. Under federal law, municipalities previously had no authority over approving or inspecting transfer stations linked by railroad tracks. In 2005, the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway Corp. built a facility near Fourth Avenue and River Street in Paterson without receiving any permits, which brought fierce resistance from residents who live in the densely-populated Riverside neighborhood.

On Monday, Mayor Jose "Joey" Torres thanked Lautenberg for fighting to force more transparency when companies choose to build facilities that handle construction debris and chemicals.

"I applaud Paterson's native son for once again creating legislation that supports the little guy," Torres said. "This gives us a regulatory arm on the local level, as well as on the state level."

In 2005, state inspectors discovered 80 barrels of phosphorus pentasulfide, a powdery toxic chemical, being stored at a North Bergen transfer station. That discovery of unattended chemicals pushed state and federal officials to call for tighter scrutiny, calling those sites dangerous and potential terrorist targets.

Paterson officials in 2005 were thwarted in their attempts to regulate the construction of the Riverside facility by a federal court decision that exempted the railroad company from local permitting and inspections, because railroads are regulated by federal law.

A spokesman for the railroad said Monday that the Paterson site is close to complying with the new bill, because the company has been working with the state Department of Environmental Protection for more than a year to comply with state permitting standards.

"This is not a big surprise to anybody," said Nathan Fenno. "The bill has been around for a long time."

The new federal law could have applied to another transfer station that was once proposed in Paterson on Montgomery Street off Summer Street. That project is not likely to occur, according to Torres, because the city claimed the land through eminent domain last year to build a new salt dome for the Department of Public Works.

In a statement released by Gov. Jon S. Corzine's office, Joseph V. Doria Jr., Department of Community Affairs commissioner, commended the law.

"These facilities cannot operate outside of the law, without sprinkler systems or, in some cases, marked safety exits," said Doria. "This settlement puts a stop to those unacceptable practices and gives us the tools to ensure residents, workers and first responders are protected from fire hazards, pollution and other dangers."