Comment EI-13910
Received or sent (printed as 9/29/2008)
Dear Ms. Ball, I am writing to again express my grave concerns regarding the potential negative environmental effects if Canadian National Railroad is permitted to acquire the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern rail spur that cuts through my community. I have written previously discussing noise, pollution and public safety, and now I need to add my concern about safety mitigation. CN has pledged a completely inadequate $40 million in contributions to fund crossing safety and overpasses. This amount will not cover one single overpass, and there are 131 crossings on the EJE. The onus for keeping our communities safe will fall to the taxpayers in our towns and to state budgets. The current financial distress facing our communities is very significant. Loss of home sale and retail revenue are choking our community finances. The cost of enhancing crossing safety will be borne by the people benefitting the least from this transaction- CN pays no taxes to our communities, and the benefit of utilizing a ONE TRACK spur will prove to be completely inadequate as freight volumes double by 2021. We will experience more dangerous crossings unless we decide to forego other critical community needs. This deal faces a very unfair burden on us, as well as a whole host of negative environmental impacts. I implore you to stop this irresponsible transaction! Sincerely, Brian Hart Father of wwo children attending a school with the EJE racing adjacent to the playground!
Submitted by: Brian Hart · Lake Zurich, IL
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-13910 · back to the docket sheet