Comment EI-19450
Received or sent (printed as 1/7/2013)
The EIS for the Tongue River Railroad in SE Montana should consider the following issues: - Evoking eminent domain by claiming that the railroad is for “public convenience and necessity” - Arch Coal is a private company and is the only entity that will profit. They intend to ship the coal that they mine to Asian countries. - Invasive, noxious weeds - railroad beds are a fertile site for noxious, invasive weeds and trains are a constant vector for spreading those seeds. Adjacent property owners face a continuing battle to contain this unwanted, destructive vegetation. Spraying toxic chemicals may slow the process, but those efforts never completely address the problem. - Property values - There would be significant impacts on property values all along the route. - Environmental concerns - Consider impacts to wildlife, Miles City flooding, as well as increases in noise and pollution to traditional ranch and farm lands. - Infrastructure – increased rail activity through towns will be major challenges to communities along the route. Delays, traffic disruption and new infrastructures will become new local burdens. - Jobs - the number of jobs attributed to coal development can just as easily be shifted to the development of cleaner sources of energy. - Coal is a very dirty source of energy - The hidden costs of burning coal need to be taken into account when making decisions about coal production, transportation and use. Use of coal contributes to much of the exorbitant health care costs in the US. Coal causes the acceleration of climate change. To ignore global warming is to do so at our own peril in the near future. While the US is still dependent on some coal, current and future efforts and monetary resources need to be directed toward cleaner sources of energy. New technology needs to be developed to further the shift to solar, geothermal and wind power, as well as better recovery techniques for natural gas that have less impact to the environment than dirty coal. Coal needs to be phased out. Coal mining companies should be encouraged to focus their attention and resources on producing cleaner energy. - Shipping coal to China - Chinese plants have less environmental safeguards and will affect more than just the health of that country’s population. Atmospheric currents will carry the pollution right back to the US. To argue that the US might as well be the country to satisfy Asia’s demand for coal is bogus. The US should be setting a better example for the world. The US should be demonstrating leadership in the development of cleaner sources of energy and promoting more conservation here and abroad. The bottom line of any company should not be the only or most important consideration for continuing the mining and use of coal. The use of coal is NOT strictly a local concern. There is much more at stake for the economy as a whole, when the many hidden costs are taken into account.
Submitted by: Debbie Milburn · Helena, 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-19450 · back to the docket sheet