A resident who lives beside the rail line told the Manville Board of Health at its August 18th meeting that waste-carrying trains are again parking behind her home for extended stretches, now more than a week at a time, and said the odor keeps her family from opening their windows.

Michael McCarty, Deputy Director of the Somerset County Department of Health, which handles health inspections for the borough, said the county had not received a garbage train complaint in almost two months and would send an inspector out the next day in response to her comments.

The resident said the trains used to sit for three or four days before moving. Since mid-June, she said, the stays have stretched past seven days, and a train that left the morning before the meeting was back the same day.

"We are not able to open the windows," she said, describing flies and an odor so strong that "it's almost like you're sitting in the container."

Board member Ron Skirkanish said the trains had been moving more often and the problem had become less of an issue, adding that he lived in the valley years ago and conditions were worse then, when containers sat open. The resident said the issue remains ongoing.

Board President Jessica Nichols and McCarty encouraged her to keep photographing and documenting the trains and to keep filing reports with federal, state and county agencies, CSX, and the waste hauler.

McCarty said the county investigates every complaint it receives. Inspectors visited the area daily for a period earlier this year, he said, but the county scaled those visits back after complaints stopped coming in.

County officials told the board in June that federal railroad law leaves state and local agencies little room to act against the trains, after the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection determined the county could not pursue enforcement under state odor or solid waste codes.

Home Food Business Cited

Under old business, the board reviewed a notice of violation issued to a Manville home business for selling food without a required permit.

According to an update Borough Administrator Gabriella Siboni provided shortly before the meeting, the operation's state cottage food permit was not renewed for 2026 because its menu and offerings no longer fit the cottage food category, and zoning permits to operate from the home were denied. The owner has been notified that continuing to operate would require a variance approved by the planning board.

The discussion turned to children's lemonade stands, which McCarty called a gray area with no firm rules. He said the county generally prefers not to allow them when it is notified, and that the state has pushed the question back to local discretion.

"Do we really need to come down on a child's lemonade stand?" board member Rob Kojko said.

Other Business

Board member Branden Agans asked that the Board of Health be represented on the cannabis advisory committee the Borough Council created in July. Councilwoman Patricia Zamorski, the board's council liaison, said she would reach out to the council member organizing the committee. Agans also asked about organizing a suicide prevention event in September, and McCarty offered to connect him with the county's human services division.

A flu clinic is planned for the morning of October 8 at the VFW, ahead of the seniors group meeting. McCarty said recent retail food inspections in the borough were all satisfactory.

What Happens Next?

McCarty said a county inspector would visit the rail line based on the resident's complaint. Residents can report parked trains through the Federal Railroad Administration's online reporting form, including date, time, location and duration, and can file odor, vermin and food safety complaints with the Somerset County Department of Health.

The board meets next at 6pm on Tuesday, September 15th.