MISSOULA — From the Lower Rattlesnake to East Broadway, many people in Missoula are more than familiar with the sound of trains at odd hours of the day.
And with that, there is no shortage of complaints about the noise.
“What's going on here is what's been going on for a long time. People within this corridor of the railroad tracks, where they conduct coupling operations, are causing an incredible amount of noise pollution to the point where science has proven that these levels are harmful to public health and safety,” Mark Kersting, a Missoula resident who lives near the railroad tracks, said.
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Kersting says that throughout his 26 years there, the noise of railroad operations has been a constant issue, and he’s had enough.
“It's always the breaking point in a sense. It's a matter of now I'm full-on retired. I have all the time in the world,” Kersting said.
Kersting says he’s currently organizing a petition to get BNSF, the main operator in the area, and the City of Missoula to reduce noise pollution.
“I mean, the classic joke is that there's God and then there's the railroads and that applies here, right?” Ryan Sudbury, city attorney for the City of Missoula, said.
He says the city’s hands are tied when it comes to the railroad - largely because they’re regulated federally, therefore exempt from local laws for that reason.
Federal regulations require train horns to be sounded at all public highway-rail grade crossings.
According to a study by the City of Missoula, train horns can be as loud as 90 decibels up to half a mile from the crossing.
That's levels the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says can result in hypertension and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
“I do suffer from hypertension. I have chronic sinusitis,” Kersting said.
While the City of Missoula may have limited power over what they can do, they are still looking for a solution.
One idea is to install horns at the crossing on Spruce, which would limit the noise just to the crossing area.
But with a cost of $170,000 adjusted for inflation, the city hopes BNSF will assist in installing the horns.
In a statement, a BNSF spokesperson stated in part, “Another way to reduce train horn noise is to close a crossing,” and that “BNSF has a program to work with communities to close crossings.”
BNSF also said they are in contact with the City of Missoula to install horns at the Spruce crossing.
