The Surface Transportation Board wasted little time in releasing its unfortunate ruling last week that CSX may abandon 14 miles of rail line formerly used for industrial transportation in Trumbull County.

The ruling came based on CSX’s request and despite objections from a property owner trying to redevelop acres of brownfield in Warren, along with some local elected leaders, the Regional Chamber and the Mahoning Valley Economic Development Corporation.

The real issue here is economy vs. environment.

Developers of the ever-growing Lake-to-River Greenway bicycle trail in northeast Ohio are hoping to utilize this CSX rail property to help complete the last four-mile Trumbull County leg of the 79-mile Western Reserve Greenway Bike Trail. That’s important, but undoubtedly, this rail line is even more crucial to future development of the former RG Steel mill in Warren — especially considering that easy highway access to the brownfield is non-existent without first traveling on two-lane city or rural roadways to and from the property on Warren’s southeast side.

Owners of BDM Warren Steel Holdings, which in 2012 took over the former RG Steel property in Warren, argued last month to the federal board that they already have expended considerable money in the environmental remediation of the property, preparing it for redevelopment. But rail service is a critical component of the property’s redevelopment and, more importantly, bringing new jobs back to Warren and Trumbull County.

“We do not want to see that rail line go away,” said Charles J. Betters of western Pennsylvania, who heads BDM. “We don’t want to operate it; the idea is to preserve it for the right thing in the future.”

He is absolutely correct. Preservation is the right thing to do.

And Betters is putting his money where his mouth is by offering to purchase the rail line from CSX in order to keep it intact. BDM made an initial offer of $741,911 for the 14 miles of rail line property and said further negotiations would be welcomed. Sadly, legal documents filed in the case indicate, however, that CSX appeared uninterested in the offer, failing to provide requested information to allow BDM to estimate value of the acquisition.

The Youngstown Warren Regional Chamber also has been working with BDM in its acquisition attempts, and the executive director of the Mahoning Valley Economic Development Corporation also sent a letter to the D.C.-based Surface Transportation Board asking for a six-month delay in proceedings to give them time to develop a plan. CSX objected to the request, and the board apparently disagreed as well by issuing its ruling last week.

In his letter, the MVEDC director listed 25 businesses that could be potential shippers on the line. Additionally, Newton Falls Village Council has directed its law director to submit a letter of interest in purchasing the rail line, also in an attempt to preserve it while its future need is debated.

All these folks have put together a wonderful collaborative effort to preserve the 14-mile line that runs in a semi-circle between Newton Falls and Niles, passing through Weathersfield, Howland, Warren and Warren Township.

And there remains a small glimmer of hope.

While the D.C. board did rule that the line MAY be abandoned, negotiations still are not complete on the agreement that would convert the line from rail to bike path. The federal board also ruled that CSX must preserve culverts, tunnels and bridges so the line could reopen in the future if need or opportunity arise. Of course, that is cost prohibitive and highly unlikely.

Really, the best opportunity to convince CSX of the important economic need for the rail line, specifically for redevelopment of the RG Steel Mill property, exists now.

We encourage CSX at least to come to the table and entertain discussions to preserve and sell the line still intact.

While it may appear that both CSX and the federal Surface Transportation Board already have given up on the economic and industrial value of this rail line, area property owners and other local elected leaders and economic development experts still must not.

editorial@tribtoday.com