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Schumer wants CSX to fix Coxsackie bridge
Liz Montgomery reports for Porcupine Soup that New York's senior Senator Chuck Schumer wants the railroad company CSX to stop the gray liquid leaking from its train bridge over Mansion Street in Coxsackie. At the bridge Aug. 30 with local officials, Schumer called the leak a “long-standing safety concern” and called the unknown substance leaking “potentially dangerous.” Last April, Coxsackie Mayor Mark Evans said, “Within a few days of seeing it, I reached out to my contact at CSX, who responded promptly in three emails, over more than a week and half, but never indicated when the issue would be resolved, despite me telling him this needs an immediate response." Eventually a CSX crew looked at the issue, with Schumer saying, “although CSX initially responded by placing plastic culvert pipes cut in half to replace the original 1930s steel drains, the new installation only diverted the water to the sidewalk, leaving it wet and slick and creating yet another safety issue for residents in the village.” Evans says it was not the only issue with the bridge. “About six years ago, a piece of concrete fell off the bridge, and a couple of weeks later they came to check the bridge declaring it safe. Several years ago, a bunch of dirt and gravel came off the embankment in a rainstorm, and it took them a week to clean it up, all the time declaring it was not actually their responsibility,” Evans said. “We will continue to keep the pressure on to get this resolved.” CSX previously reported that the liquid leaking from the bridge was mud. Now CSX spokesman Bryan Tucker said, “CSX teams will return to the bridge to see what else can be done to address the concerns expressed by Senator Schumer." Read more about this story in Porcupine Soup.