Comment EI-19944
Received or sent (printed as 1/11/2013)
I am a resident of Bellingham, Washington. The BNSF trains which would carry coal from the Powder River Basin to one of the several coal export terminals currently being planned for Washington and Oregon cross our property, less than 100 feet from my house. But the potential impact of the transport and eventual burning of coal which the Tongue River Railroad's expansion would greatly facilitate affects not only everyone living near the mines and along the railroad routes, but ultimately everyone on this planet. Already our drinking water here in Whatcom County is polluted by mercury in our water source (Lake Whatcom) which has been traced to coal-burning facilities in China. Making cheap coal more readily available for such uses will encourage more coal burning, and do more damage to our planet. It will also make Chinese industries more competitive, and thus threaten even more U.S. jobs than have already been lost to less developed foreign countries. Thus I would the Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Tongue River Railroad (TRR) to analyze the following: -- The impact on infrastructure and traffic. The trains running from the TRR to the West Coast, combined with dozens of other daily trains hauling coal, could clog our transportation system and obstruct road transportation, potentially causing losses to the production, transportation and export of other products which are NOT damaging our planet. They will also cause serious noise, air and water pollution, much of which cannot be mitigated. Required infrastructure improvements will have to be funded by local taxpayers, as railroad liability for such expenses is severely limited by federal law. -- Impacts on property values. Greatly increased railroad operations will cause fires and other damage to adjacent private properties, and have a severe negative impact on property values. -- Public convenience and necessity. The proposal to expand the TRR appears to be more in the interest of some corporate giants and of the Chinese economy, rather than for the public convenience and necessity" which would be required to justify use of eminent domain to confiscate public property and condemnation authority. It certainly does not seem in the interest of the general public and the hundreds of thousands of taxpayers all along the 1,000+ miles of railroad lines along which coal would travel. -- Impacts on wildlife habitats in the Tongue River Valley, and the flooding problems already being experienced in Miles City. -- Finally, because expansions of coal production, transportation by railroad and vessel, and export are being planned throughout the Pacific Northwest, I ask that you conduct a PROGRAMMATIC EIS (PEIS) which will systematically examine the combined effects of all these RELATED PROPOSALS. Specifically, a rail PEIS should provide sufficient notice to ALL the potentially impacted populations to enable them to understand the possible effects on their families, property, environment, and quality of life. This means ALL the communities along the railroad lines between the Powder River Basin and the various proposed ports in Washington and Oregon. Thank you very much for your careful and conscientious consideration of this and the many other scoping comments you will receive. Please keep always in your mind the responsibility you carry to ensure a safe and sound environment for future generations, for your, my, and all the other affected citizens' children, grandchildren, and offspring for many years to come."
Submitted by: Kenneth L Kaliher
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-19944 · back to the docket sheet