7 January 2006
CP Rail Agrees to Lower Towers
Albany New York - Canada's second-largest railroad has agreed to lower its radio
towers in the Adirondacks after the state and an environmental group fought the plan for years.
State officials and the Adirondack Council wanted the Calgary-based Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. to change its plans to
build 50-metre radio towers through the environmentally sensitive Adirondack Park.
The company argued that federal law in the United States that allows such necessary safety projects for railroads superseded state law.
But after the state's Adirondack Park Agency, Department of Environmental Conservation, and Adirondack Council faced the railroad in
court, negotiations began.
Now the company will retain 50-metre towers in Saratoga and Washington counties outside the park, but will replace other
50-metre towers inside the park with 29-metre antennas in Dresden, Washington County, and Crown Point,
Whallonsburg, and Port Kent in Essex County.
"At first the company seemed unaware of the importance of preserving the park's scenic beauty and its historic hamlets," said
Brian Houseal of the Adirondack Council. "Now, CP Rail has become a willing partner in protecting both."
The railroad said its towers won't be used by cellular phone companies.
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