By Madison Northsiders
No Bus Barn is the Northside community’s voice for better land use at the previous Oscar Mayer site. We are dedicated to place-making in this new era of post-industrial land use on Madison’s north side. We are a group of Madison residents who want to have our voices heard. As Madison Metro plans on moving its operations to the previous Oscar Mayer site, area residents and the business community are hopeful for a better use of the land, improved connections of area neighborhoods, and a better quality of life for all of Madison.
No Bus Barn OPPOSES the Metro facility at OM Station for the following reasons:
· High levels of toxic chemicals have been found at the OM property.
There is a great need to do an environmental assessment of the entire 72 site to determine all of the contamination at the site, the scope of off-site migration towards area neighborhoods and businesses, what contamination is going into Starkweather Creek and the Yahara River, and determine how to clean up the site before any redevelopment can take place. We need to have a guarantee that our basements and the air we breathe in our homes and businesses are safe.
· The buildings at OM Station are NOT SAFE. Testing has shown extremely high levels of trichloroethylene [TCE] underneath Building 43 and the gas vapor from this chemical is seeping into the building. TCE causes cancer and central nervous system diseases like Parkinson’s disease. Asbestos has been found throughout Building 43 and will require remediation while the other buildings need to be tested to determine the environmental conditions. We need to guarantee Metro workers that they will have a safe work environment. The current owners refuse to let the city have access to the property to conduct the necessary testing prior to purchase.
· Keep traffic flow on Commercial Avenue. Years ago, it was decided to shift access to the Oscar Mayer site to Commercial Avenue to alleviate the truck traffic on Aberg Avenue. Developers have now convinced the city that all exiting buses as well as traffic will be routed onto Aberg Avenue, despite this previous decision. Unless public transportation is improved on the north side, increased traffic will plague our roadways and area residents and businesses. We cannot have transit-oriented development without good public transportation.
· Hundreds of diesel buses will be pouring out on to Aberg Avenue at 5:30 in the morning, and then returning to the site throughout the day. Over a hundred employee cars will also be using this entrance. There is an access road being proposed along the railroad tracks that would also allow traffic from the south end of the site to enter Aberg Avenue. Increased traffic will create unsafe pedestrian crossings, long traffic jams, and increase air pollution with diesel fumes, noise pollution (in an area with fighter jets and a future large fleet of MG&E service trucks) and increased particulate levels, a serious health concern for area residents with respiratory disease. Thousands of automobiles will also be added to the area as redevelopment occurs.
· We demand environmental justice and racial equity. Affordable housing for low-income families and elderly is already being planned for the area directly adjacent to or on top of hazardous waste that lies just beneath the surface of OM Station. We demand that the city first understand all of the risks associated with the site due to the groundwater, soil and related surface water contamination and prior to any construction taking place or buildings 43 and 50 being occupied.
· Citizens, the Midwest Environmental Justice Organization and area businesses are NOT in support of the bus barn and sent letters to the Federal Transit Administration to tell them that they do not want the Metro facility at Oscar Mayer and that the site contamination needs to be investigated and cleaned up. As a result, the FTA has paused the process for more public input. The FTA wants to hear from the community. FROM YOU!
We do not support the city purchasing this highly contaminated property and buildings until the current owners investigate the site and clean it up.
Why should Madison taxpayers pay to clean it up?
Say NO to the Bus Barn!
What you can do:
Write to: Alder Abbas at district12@cityofmadison.com as Oscar Mayer is in his district. Alder Kemble at district18@cityofmadison.com, as she serves on the Transportation Policy and Planning Board.
Copy your emails to allalders@cityofmadison.com and to Jason Ciavarella at the Federal Transit Administration at Jason.Ciavarella@dot.gov
Find out more about the issues at the No Bus Barn FaceBook page.
Email us at NoBusBarn910@gmail.com to sign onto our email list for updates and action items.
