Comment EI-19610
Received or sent (printed as 1/8/2013)
My husband and I like in northwest Washington State, near where the railroad tracks headed to Cherry Point pass. Coal trains headed through the Tongue River Valley would likely pass our house, adding to significant adverse impacts in our communities should the Gateway Pacific Terminal at Cherry Point, WA be built in NW Washington. The environmental impact statement for the proposed Tongue River Railroad should analyze the following: Local impacts at the site of the proposed railroad expansion, including: Does the proposal pass the “public convenience and necessity” litmus tests required to enforce eminent domain and condemnation authority, since this railroad would serve only the coal company giant, Arch Coal, which intends to sell the coal to China and other Asian countries? What are the effects on property values and farming and ranching management operations; impacts on flooding danger, wildlife habitat, and noise? What are the effects on taxpayers who would have to foot the bill for expensive overpasses and other upgrades necessary to public safety and convenience? Long range impacts: Consider in your analysis the effects of the additional coal train traffic “downstream:” Impacts to communities all along the route from the Tongue River Valley to the port destination of the trains: These include: Traffic congestion with resultant negative impacts on local economies due to disruption of access to local businesses and tourist destinations; Emergency vehicle delays, with the potential of loss of life and property; Exposure to higher levels of diesel emissions and coal dust with potential dangers to human health; Severe economic stress on all communities through which the trains pass, to raise probably prohibitive funding for necessary grade separations and other rail improvements in order to maintain the viability of our communities; Disruption of badly needed passenger rail service, which is becoming more widely used where I live. The additional freight train traffic would likely make passenger rail non-viable. Please include in your analysis consideration of these impacts on all the communities through which trains traversing the proposed tracks in the Tongue River Valley would pass.
Submitted by: Virginia Wolff · Bow, 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-19610 · back to the docket sheet