Comment EI-19491
Received or sent (printed as 1/7/2013)
Docket No. FD 30186 Attention: Mr. Ken Blodgett Any environmental impact statement for the proposed Tongue River Railroad should thoroughly investigate and expose the following: 1)“Public convenience and necessity” is required in order for any entity 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, and, as a special interest only represents private parties not concerned about the public interest. 2)Property values: The non-zero risk that the railroad will cause fires, spread weeds, and spill coal dust, copper, and other pollutants will mean that it will devalue property (especially riverfront property), 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. 3)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. 4)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. 5)Noise: The loud trains will ruin the quiet enjoyment of nearby recreation areas near Miles City. 6)Infrastructure and traffic: Taxes will go up for residents in communities along the rail lines as the coal heads to coastal ports for shipment. This railroad will increase coal train traffic substantially 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. The Tongue River Railroad will allow coal that should stay in the ground to be burned in dirty Chinese plants and will fuel intolerable, decades-long increases in 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. We, the People are the sovereign controllers of our own destiny, and shall not be over-ruled by non-elected private entities who have no concern for the future of our children, the economic viability of our communities, or the health and safety of our citizens
Submitted by: Mike Regan · Irondale Community Action Neighbors (Jefferson County) · Hadlock, Washington
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-19491 · back to the docket sheet