Comment EI-16247
Received or sent (printed as 12/22/2008)
We cannot tell from the proposed EIS whether you have considered the impacts of the Alaska Railroad being routed along the 5 Mile Clear Creek. The Clear Creek is not featured on any of your maps, and so we are afraid you are not taking into consideration the impacts of building the Railroad along this spring-fed, beautiful creek. South of the Tanana Flats Training Area (TFTA") there are probably 50 private cabins and private landholdings along this creek. If you are recognizing this creek, it should be listed on Figure S-4 of the proposed EIS. The Clear Creek parallels the Tanana River, about one mile west of the Tanana. It empties into a slough of the Tanana opposite Flag Hill. It flows from southeast to the northwest and should be clearly visible in any aerial photos of this area. It starts south of the TFTA, and flows into and across the TFTA, emptying into the Tanana to the north. It would probably run in between your Central Alternatives 1 and 2. It looks like Connector E would cross it, and possibly all of Connectors A, B and C. We wanted to be sure that you are aware of this creek. We are concerned that either alternative might run right on top of the creek or the cabins along it. There are at least three types of fish that are in the Clear Creek: salmon (late summer/fall), whitefish, and grayling. It is a beautiful creek all year round and does not freeze in winter because it is spring fed. People drive riverboats up and down the creek all summer, so any railroad crossings would have to be high enough to allow that to continue. Bob owns about 30 acres along the Clear Creek: Tract E of Alaska State Land Survey 87-200, according to the Survey Plat recorded Nov. 27, 1989 as Plat No. 89-114, Records of the Fairbanks Recording District, Fourth Judicial District, State of Alaska. His patent was recorded in Book 686, Page 0491 on Nov. 28, 1990, as Instr. No 90-21027. If you pull this Survey 89-114, you will see the Clear Creek clearly delineated - it looks like within Sections 11, 13 and 14 of T7S, R4E, FM. The Creek originates further southeast, and flows northwest into Section 10 and 4. We ask that before any EIS or any alternative is approved, that the impacts on the Clear Creek be clearly studied, presented and taken into account. Thank you. Barbara Schuhmann Robert Groseclose"
Submitted by: Barbara Schuhmann & Bob Groseclose
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-34658/comment/EI-16247 · back to the docket sheet