Tiny Turtle May Hold Up Railway Plans

Conrail’s plan to park its cars in protected wetlands may be derailed by the yellow-spotted turtle.

The 4-inch-wide reptile was once the most common turtle in Massachusetts. Now the state considers it a species of “special concern.”

Environmentalists say that seasonal pools favored by the turtle could be damaged if Philadelphia-based Consolidated Rail Corp. goes ahead with a plan to expand its 1,000-car terminal to 2,600 spaces.

The arguments evoke the dispute in the 1970s over the snail darter, a species of tiny fish whose protectors held up construction of a Tennessee dam for a decade.

To soothe concerned residents of this Boston suburb and state environmentalists, Conrail has hired two zoologists to study the spotted turtle. They are to draft a plan for moving the turtles to a suitable new habitat.

“There is a legitimate concern about the environment in this country,” said Bruce Wilson, a senior vice president for legal affairs at Conrail.

“I believe in the need to balance our concerns for preserving the environment with the commercial demands that result from man himself being a domesticated animal,” Wilson said.

The spotted turtle is far better off than the snail darter, which was threatened with extinction.

A species of “special concern” in Massachusetts is two notches above those considered “endangered.” Species of special concern are declining in numbers and may disappear from the state, said Tom French, assistant director of the state Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program.

Conrail’s plan for the turtles must pass muster with French’s office. If the research and plan are satisfactory, the next step will be to draft an environmental-impact report, then to obtain permits for the project from the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Army Corps of Engineers.

But Conrail’s road is unlikely to be that easy. The fight has already begun.

The Westboro Conservation Commission approved the terminal expansion, but that was before the turtle problem turned up.

Community activist Michael Hachey, an engineer, has joined in a lawsuit seeking reconsideration of the commission’s action.