Comment EI-19263
Received or sent (printed as 1/5/2013)
Docket No. FD 30186 Attention of: Mr. Ken Blodget The entire human civilization is at risk due to increased carbon levels in our only atmosphere. Do not stand idle while our species is killed off in favor of the profits of a minority. Do not act so that your descendants will curse your name, please carry out your duties as a regulator and act in the interests of the vast majority of citizens over the interests of a wealthy minority. The environmental impact statement for the proposed Tongue River Railroad should analyze the following: Public convenience and necessity: This proposed railroad is not for the “public convenience and necessity” which is what is required in order for a body to get the power of eminent domain and condemnation authority. This railroad would serve only one coal company giant, Arch Coal, which intends to sell the coal to China and other Asian countries. Impacts on property values: The project would devalue property and infringes on property rights. This railroad will cause fires, spread weeds, devalue property (especially riverfront property), will make ranching and farming more difficult and expensive, will split ranch land in half and separate fields from the river and will shift the liability of train crossings to the landowner. Wildlife: The Tongue River Valley is rich in wildlife habitat and home to outstanding elk and mule deer populations as well as upland birds. Industrializing this valley with a railroad and the coal strip mine it serves will seriously degrade this excellent sportsman resource. Flooding: The railroad bed will act as an earthen dam and potentially worsen the flooding problems now experienced in Miles City in the winter with ice jams. Noise: The loud trains will ruin the quiet enjoyment of nearby recreation areas near Miles City. Infrastructure and traffic: Taxes will go up for residents in communities along the rail lines as the coal heads to coastal ports for shipment overseas, affecting hundreds of communities and many states. This railroad will increase coal train traffic substantially causing traffic delays-(which will directly affect the lives of citizens in need of emergency medical care while their ambulances are delayed by the lengthy and more frequent coal trains along the entire length of the mining and shipment-lanes, even those in China), as well as causing noise pollution, coal-dust pollution and diesel pollution. A consequence of this proposed increased rail traffic will require expensive over passes and safety crossing which have historically been paid for primarily by local taxpayers. Require any new new mining proposal to include paying for these and other expenses, such as covers for the rail cars. The comprehensive EIS should consider all impacts of the proposed mining operation, from cradle to grave." The Tongue River Railroad would allow coal that MUST stay in the ground if our civilization is to survive, to be burned in dirty Chinese plants which will fuel decades-long increases in climate destabilizing Carbon Dioxide emissions. The greenhouse gas costs of Otter Creek coal go far beyond just burning the coal. It must be mined, hauled by trains fueled by diesel to West Coast terminals, shipped overseas by ships fueled by diesel, and then hauled in China to the plants."
Submitted by: Orlando Martin
The Board publishes this comment in its environmental-comment table for this proceeding. It is quoted here as printed; nothing is inferred from it, and it states the commenter's own position in their own words, not this record's.
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