Comment EI-13206
Received or sent (printed as 9/25/2008)
I am a resident of Mokena, Illinois, one of the communities through which the EJ&E railroad tracks pass. I am writing to express my strong opposition to the sale of EJ&E to Canadian National. EJ&E tracks pass through heavily populated communities in the Chicago metro area. The immediate quadrupling of train traffic (and perhaps even more in the future) will expose millions of people to increased noise, air pollution, and traffic congestion due to blocked roads. Emergency responders will be blocked from reaching accident scenes, imperiling the health of victims. There will be a greatly increased risk of collisions, derailments and hazmat accidents. Homes, schools and businesses closely border the tracks in many areas so any problems will be greatly magnified. Finally, railroad overpasses will need to constructed at many crossings and all grade level crossings will need to be upgraded to handle the increased rail traffic. This cost may run into several billion dollars. Canadian National has not shown any willingness to pay any portion of this cost. Are American taxpayers expected to subsidize a foreign, profit-making enterprise? Please vote against this sale and prevent a real tragedy for these Chicago-area communities, as well as a huge cost for the American taxpayer. Thank you for your attention to my concerns.
Submitted by: Viktoras A. Kuraitis · Mokena, Illinois
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-35087/comment/EI-13206 · back to the docket sheet