…Can I really trust my doctors in the Lancaster General Health (LGH) system? After all, the hospital’s top administration officials are partners–along with Franklin & Marshall College (F&M) and Norfolk Southern (NS)–to dig up a former municipal dump and replace it with a Norfolk Southern switching yard.
There are many problems with the switching yard relocation plan. Most notably, the switching yard and its public health hazards (ex: chemical spills, diesel emissions) will be relocated to just 1200 feet from long-established neighborhoods (School Lane Hills, Madison at Barrcrest, Barrcrest, Windsor Court and Gentry Heights).
Also, the former dump contains Armstrong asbestos-backed vinyl sheet flooring. At a recent meeting in Manheim Township, the partners’ remediation firm, ARM, denied its existence—even though local residents discovered photos of it in a 1,000+ page report funded by the project partners. Those photos led one resident to go out to the dump, pluck a sample right from the top of the dump, and send it to an environmental engineer who believes the asbestos is potentially friable (i.e.: a potential public health hazard).
A local advocacy group, The Rail Road Action and Advisory Committee (TRRAAC), formed in response to the switching yard plans. They have suggested a number of alternative locations (including one that was originally suggested by a former NS engineer at the world-renowned RL Banks and Associates). None of their suggestions have been independently evaluated. TRRAAC requested an independent evaluation from Penn Dot, but has not yet received a favorable response.
Thus far, the only studies on the affects of the switching yard relocation have been conducted by F&M and LGH co-conspirators—ARM and Gannett Fleming. The results of their studies were released at a well-orchestrated June 19 meeting. Residents were given approximately one hour to digest the results of year’s worth of studies on approximately 30 display boards. And then hundreds of residents were given approximately one hour to ask questions. It was suggested that they ask only one question each so that everyone could have an opportunity to ask a question!
All of the data and analysis used to create the display boards were released one month later. F&M and LGH claimed June 19 was our one and only public meeting. After many complaints, they agreed to appear once more in early November at a Manheim Township-sponsored meeting. F&M’s Keith Orris spoke mostly through his attorney, and refused to answer any question that wasn’t related to the remediation of the dump. We were told to submit all other questions via email and he’d be sure to get back to us. The only LGH representative, Vice President Jan Bergen, arrived late and never spoke.
At the Manheim Township meeting, retired and well-respected Dr. Albert Price announced that he recently moved out of one of the affected neighborhoods because of the switching yard plans, and expressed his disappointment in LGH. Jan Bergen never acknowledged Dr. Price or looked up from her doodle pad.
So, it seems LGH is putting a sweet land deal ahead of public health. If that is the mentality of the LGH leaders, and since, other than Dr. Price, none of the other doctors are speaking up, could that also mean that they’d put hospital profits before my personal health? They’d be easy dots to connect. LGH claims it’s “by your side”. If the top administrators and physicians are really on our side, then they should partner with TRRAAC and ensure that all alternative sites are properly vetted before our health is needlessly put at risk.
