Scout Motors’ neighbors skeptical of claim that new train noise won’t affect them. Will it?
Will the sound of birdsong soon be replaced by squealing rail cars and mechanical clamoring?
Residents nearby the new Scout Motors plant in Blythewood worry that will be the case.
In order to ship the 200,000 electric vehicles the company has promised to produce each year at the forthcoming plant, Scout Motors needs to build a rail yard.
The company claims it is being proactive to ensure the rail yard isn’t heard by nearby subdivisions, as its leaders stress that the company wants to be good neighbors. But several residents who live a stone’s throw from the ongoing construction say that hasn’t been the case so far.
They worry the rail noise will be just the beginning of a long marriage they didn’t want to begin with.
The analysis
By one analysis, Scout’s new rail yard, located just below the site of the plant, between Blythewood and Community roads, won’t be any louder than a refrigerator and shouldn’t impact noise levels for nearby residents at all.
That’s according to a noise study conducted by engineering consultants Terracon. The analysis took noise samples from 19 receivers placed along the perimeter between the rail yard and houses, then used projections to estimate how loud the would-be rail yard will be.
It’s unclear exactly how busy the new rail yard will be, but the study used the estimate of 214 rail cars traveling through the site each day when the plant is at full production capacity.
Despite the level of activity, the analysis found “the results of the modeling (to) indicate the rail operational sound emitted on the site dissipates with distance, topography and ground cover.” In other words, the analysts don’t think the nearby neighbors will be impacted by noise at all.
“The reason why the noise study found that the new rail yard won’t be substantially louder than the current level of ambient noise in the area is because significant steps are being taken to limit the noise,” Richland County Economic Development Director Jeff Ruble said via email.
One of those measures is a 1,000-foot tree buffer between the rail yard and nearby houses. The rail yard also is planned to be built 70 feet higher than nearby homes. Site engineers may also add a 5-foot berm to further reduce noise, Ruble said.
All of these factors promise to keep the neighborhood just as quiet as before, if not perhaps a bit quieter by shielding existing ambient noise from Interstate 77 and elsewhere, the company and county say.
Beyond that work, rail cars will be kept at or below 10 miles an hour, and the rail curves are designed to minimize the squealing sounds of steel on steel, Ruble added.
The local noise ordinance sets sound level restrictions at 55 decibels at night and 62 decibels for daytime, but industrial sites are exempt from those limits.
Instead, the rail yard will be bound by federal Railroad Administration rules, which judge noise levels based on how much the project will increase noise levels.
In the loudest parts of the rail yard, noise is expected to reach 65 decibels or more — equivalent to a normal conversation verging on yelling, according to a chart included in the noise study document.
But as the noise nears the treeline leading to the neighborhood, noise analysts say noise levels will be quiet, ranging from a whisper to the sound of a refrigerator.
The neighbors are skeptical.
A good neighbor?
“It’s like trying to put a size 12 foot into a size 9 shoe,” said Gordon Fuller, a resident of Ashley Oaks, a subdivision abutting Scout’s eventual new rail yard.
Fuller has owned his home since 2012. It’s part of Ashley Oaks Phase I, the first iteration of a still-growing subdivision south of downtown Blythewood, which first started construction in the early 1990s.
David Sovde, Fuller’s next door neighbor, has lived in his home since 2003. He came to get away from Columbia, which he calls “the city.”
The pair are among a number of neighbors who now worry about their future quality of life as a massive new auto plant that no one saw coming gets built next door.
Dozens of people in March and April tried and failed to convince the Blythewood Town Council to reject the rezoning request needed to build the rail yard. Already, residents say the noise from logging operations to clear the land has become overwhelming.
When it comes to the rail noise specifically, residents say they have little confidence that Scout will treat them with respect. When residents have asked questions about the rail yard, they’ve been referred to Ruble, who has helped shepherd the Scout deal since its origin.
“If they are good neighbors, why aren’t they meeting us now?” Sovde asked, adding that he feels the company has made a bad impression, “but it’s only because they’re not representing themselves.”
He suggests that Scout create a council of neighborhood representatives to make it easier to address residents’ concerns.
Fuller and his neighbors have taken to Facebook to share their concerns. Their group, BW Scout, has amassed more than 300 members, and the posts are largely critical of the project.
The issue is one of trust. Fuller is doubtful that the 1,000-foot tree buffer will remain. If Scout expands, which the company has indicated is likely, Fuller worries part of the 1,000-foot buffer will be needed for new projects.
“We’re going to lose this issue, we get that,” Fuller said. “They’re going to do what they’re going to do. We just want to be heard. We just want them to know that we’re out here.”
