It's been more than three months since state and Norfolk Southern officials announced they would build an intermodal freight yard somewhere near Roanoke. It's been a month and a half since Montgomery County officials announced it would be built in Elliston.

Yet there are still more questions than answers about the plan and its effect on local roads, the Roanoke Valley's water supply and the people who live nearby. Neither Norfolk Southern nor state government wants to talk about the site.

"The more you think of it, the more levels of pollution you have coming from something like this," said Elliston resident Martha Orrick. She ran through a list: air, water, noise, light, soil and foreign pests that might stow away in loads of freight. "There are a lot of levels to be analyzed."

Bob Isner, Montgomery County's director of economic development, said more information will be available soon.

"We are working with VDOT and working very closely with the railroad," Isner said. There will be at least one community informational meeting "sometime in August, probably somewhere around the middle of the month."

Norfolk Southern seems to be on a different schedule.

About the time Isner was talking about cooperation and meetings last month, Norfolk Southern spokesman Robin Chapman said, "No meeting has been scheduled at this time. No dates have been suggested."

That would be premature, Chapman suggested.

"For one thing, the site selection is not finalized," he said.

The company is negotiating with landowners to buy about 62 acres of land along Norfolk Southern's tracks in Elliston.

"I'm not naive enough to believe they're doing this in five or six places across the state," said Tom Dunkenberger, who has taken part in Norfolk Southern's negotiations with Sisson & Ryan, a Shawsville company that owns 24 acres the railway wants.

Sisson & Ryan rejected Norfolk Southern's initial offer, Dunkenberger said. In fact, he said, the company doesn't want to sell at all. Norfolk Southern made it clear that wasn't an option.

Though several politicians, including Gov. Tim Kaine, have spoken disapprovingly of the idea of Norfolk Southern's obtaining the site through eminent domain, Dunkenberger said Norfolk Southern reminded him early in the negotiations it has that power and implied it would use it.

Intermodal transportation of goods means packing freight into containers that can be moved among trucks, trains and ships. It's intended to move freight more efficiently. Ideally, it cuts down on long-haul truck traffic, saves fuel and moves merchandise faster.

But really efficient intermodal transportation requires a system that can handle double-stacked containers and stops between ports and major manufacturing and consumer centers where containers can be transferred from trains to trucks for shorter hauls.

That means pavement. Lots of it. Perhaps about 50 acres in this case.

And that means rainstorms are likely to put more water in the river faster, which could increase flooding downstream. The regional jail that will serve Salem and Franklin, Montgomery and Roanoke counties is being built downstream, just outside the flood plain, less than three miles from the intermodal site. Roanoke is already working on a $65 million flood control project.

So much pavement brings increased potential for fuel and lubricants and anything else that might collect on more than 2 million square feet of impervious surface to wash into the river that provides drinking water for the Roanoke Valley.

"I am anxious to learn more about the facility," said Gary Robertson, executive director of the water operations for the Western Virginia Water Authority.

The authority pumps water from the Roanoke River into Spring Hollow Reservoir, in the western end of Roanoke County. The reservoir and its pumping station are downstream from where Norfolk Southern plans to build. Salem draws its water farther downstream.

"I think I'd be remiss to say I had no concerns at all," Robertson said.

Robertson thinks the railway's facility can be built in a way that protects the Roanoke Valley's water supply. He also said he expects to have input, though he's heard nothing from the company so far.

Robertson isn't the only one who wants a seat at the table.

"I would think that Norfolk Southern would want to involve Friends of the Roanoke River and others upfront and early so as to avoid any negative impacts to the river and those who use it or live along it," said Bill Tanger, president of Friends of the Roanoke River. "After all, we will all be drinking the water that goes by the NS facility, and with 50 acres paved over, there will be a lot of nonpoint source glop that will flush into the river and likely be pulled into our reservoir."

Mark McCain, president of the Roanoke Valley chapter of the Sierra Club, said, "This is a good news/bad news story."

McCain and the Sierra Club like rail. They like intermodal transportation because it can reduce fossil fuel use. But there is that question about the water. And there's more than water to consider.

The trains and trucks rolling in and out will bring more air pollution. Trucks use diesel fuel, which burns dirtier than gasoline. Trains run on a kind of diesel that's dirtier still.

Cleaner diesel fuels are on the way, but they won't be universally available until 2014. They won't have their full effect on emissions from trucks until the current fleet is completely replaced -- around 2030.

"It's a beautiful and fairly narrow valley," said Elizabeth Obenshain, executive director of the New River Land Trust. The land trust helped put about 1,000 acres in that valley under conservation easements. Fotheringay, a historic plantation house, is between those easements and the site Norfolk Southern wants to buy. Pedlar Hills Glades Natural Area Preserve is close by. What will this development do to them? There's no word on that from Norfolk Southern.

Orrick and other Elliston residents worry what development attracted by the Norfolk Southern facility will do to their community. A similar, larger operation near Front Royal is credited with helping to attract about $600 million in investment and more than 7,000 jobs since it opened in 1989. Norfolk Southern's facility will employ 10 to 15 people, according to Isner. But will it draw other businesses to Elliston?

Isner says that's unlikely. Despite acres of flat land across U.S. 460 from the intermodal site, the county's economic development director said the topography doesn't lend itself to such development. Besides, it wouldn't be compatible with the residential development already there.

Except for Rowe Furniture and the industrial park across the river from Rowe, there won't be much industrial land in the area, Isner said.

Del. Dave Nutter, R-Christiansburg, has mentioned Dublin, in and around Commerce Park, as an ideal place for such development. Isner has talked about industrial land available near Christiansburg. The most direct route from there to the site would be down U.S. 460, through Shawsville and Elliston. Supervisor Gary Creed, whose district includes the intermodal site, said he's opposed to directing truck traffic through those communities. He has suggested some of that development might happen on North Fork Road near Interstate 81's Exit 128.

Like the land around Elliston, including the intermodal site, land around the exit would have to be rezoned.

And tying the intermodal site to Exit 128 would require a new road to bypass North Fork Road's twists and curves. Creed says that's part of Norfolk Southern's plan. Norfolk Southern won't talk about it. "I really just want the information," Orrick said.

So far, information is in short supply.

Staff writer Angela Manese-Lee contributed to this report.