Comment EI-19321
Received or sent (printed as 1/5/2013)
Dear Mr. Blodgett, I am writing with grave concerns about the proposed Tongue River Railroad which will carry Montana coal to west coast ports for energy production in China. I have lived in Montana for over 20 years, and I have seen the consequences of resource extraction over the last hundred years or so. We have just completed the largest Superfund project in the country: removing huge amounts of sediment tainted with heavy metals from the Clark Fork River, the result of years of copper and gold mining upriver Now we are faced with a proposed coal mine in Otter Creek. It will destroy healthy sustainable ranch communities and the surrounding pristine environment (I have been there and it is a gorgeous area). The proposed Tongue River Railway will carry this coal to west coast ports and winds through a biologically rich area which is relatively undisturbed. 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. The project would devalue property and infringe on property rights. This railroad will cause fires, spread weeds, and will make ranching and farming more difficult and expensive. It will split ranch land in half and separate fields from the river and will shift the liability of train crossings to the landowner. 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. Taxes will go up for residents along the rail lines as the coal heads to coastal ports for shipment. This railroad will increase coal train traffic substantially in many parts of Montana causing traffic delays, noise, and diesel pollution. The only way to live with this increased traffic will require expensive over passes and safety crossing which are paid for primarily by local taxpayers. I am most concerned about the global impacts of mining coal and selling it to power plants in China. We all realize that global warming is threatening our societies worldwide. If you have children, surely you must understand the lunacy of adding more CO2 to the atmosphere when we know we have already gone beyond what many scientists feel is a tipping point (the inevitable 4 degree rise in average global temperatures). Longer fire seasons, less snow pack, and hotter drier summer weather are already being felt here in Montana and throughout the west. Please do the right thing for our collective future and deny the permit for the Tongue River Railroad. Sincerely, Anne Greene
Submitted by: Anne Greene · Missoula, Montana
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.
Permanent address docketyard.org/d/FD-30186/comment/EI-19321 · back to the docket sheet