Norfolk Southern, a major holding company for the railroad business in the eastern United States, has asked Bethlehem police to help them remove people camping along their property along the Lehigh River.
According to a letter addressed to Bethlehem police Chief Michelle Kott, Norfolk Southern will request that signs are posted on their property by Sept. 15, with an order for people to be removed by Dec. 15.
“As the legal owner of the property in question, Norfolk Southern is committed to maintaining a safe and secure environment for both the community and our employees,” the letter, authored by Norfolk Southern Railway police Agent Maria Brogna, said. “Over the past several months, we have observed an increasing number of unhoused individuals establishing makeshift encampments on our property. While we are sympathetic to the hardships many of these individuals face, their continued presence has raised significant health and safety concerns.”
Those concerns include improper disposal of waste, open fires and possible interference with rail operations, according to the letter.
In an interview, Kott said that Bethlehem police are legally required to comply with Norfolk Southern’s request, but that police and other city agencies would do so in an “empathetic” manner and try to help relocate people instead of evict them.
Community Connections, a program that pairs Bethlehem Health Bureau social workers with police officers to conduct outreach in the camp, already has established relationships with some of the camp residents. The program has helped some formerly homeless people to find permanent housing, Kott said.
“There are individuals down there that are still facing homelessness for one reason or another, there are some unmet social service needs whether it be mental health-wise or substance abuse-wise, but we are going to try to provide services to these folks to help them through this deadline that has been put in place by Norfolk Southern,” Kott said.
Kristen Wenrich, the city’s health bureau director, said that program conducted two outreach events this summer for the camp, and 47 encampment residents attended across both events. She could not give a precise estimate of how many people currently live there, but said there are about 91 homeless people across the entire city.
Wenrich said the city has requested more information from Norfolk Southern, including laying out the exact responsibilities of the city and the company, as well as a formal process to remove or relocate people once the deadline approaches.
“We do not feel that being homeless should be a permanent state of existence for anyone, and we will continue to offer services and we will continue to find permanent housing for those who choose to access these services provided by Bethlehem Health Bureau and other services providers,” said Bethlehem Mayor J. William Reynolds in a statement.
Bob Rapp, the director of the Bethlehem Emergency Shelter, said that he would work with the city and other social service agencies to help safely relocate people who will be removed. He said that although Norfolk Southern has the legal right to remove people from their property, he feels “appalled” at what he sees as a lack of empathy for homeless people.
“We have as a community we have at our disposal ways of alleviating the pain of a lot of folks, but do we really have the tenacity to do it?” Rapp said.
The Bethlehem Emergency Shelter opens on Nov. 1 to house people during the colder months, so it will be available for people being removed from the Norfolk Southern property.
The Morning Call has reached out to Norfolk Southern Corp. for comment.
The company’s letter comes a week after the city of Allentown extended an evacuation deadline for another homeless encampment in the Lehigh Valley, along the Jordan Creek.
Allentown will allow people camping along the Jordan Creek to remain until Sept. 29, reversing an earlier decision to evacuate the homeless encampment by Aug. 25. The new date aligns with plans, announced last week, to open the Allentown warming shelter at the YMCA on Sept. 30, roughly two months ahead of schedule, to accommodate homeless residents.
The city in early August announced it would evacuate the camp after officials said they determined the area poses “significant danger” to those living there. Specifically, the area is in an active flood zone, which could threaten the residents’ lives if a flood occurred, Allentown leaders said.
The evacuation sparked outrage among homeless residents and their advocates, who said the city should not clear the encampment without giving people an alternative place to go.
