Comment EI-13975
Received or sent (printed as 9/29/2008)
Please reject CN's acquisition of the EJ&E tracks. Our area does not have the infrastructure to support what CN proposes and the acquisition would devastate property values which are the tax base for the School District U-46, the second largest school district in Illinois outside of Chicago. Also, reading in the Chicago Tribune today, Chicago and the surrounding counties include those through which the EJ&E pass are currently listed by the EPA as having the most toxic air in the country (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-pollution-risk-29-sep29,0,4323308. story). Where CN permitted to proceed with its acquisition, the forest preserves which are on the periphery of Cook County which are green spaces that at least offset some of the toxicity would be directly impacted, between a 400% increase in rail traffic on EJ&E and additional rail traffic on the trackage in Chicago which would take over CN's usage, this becomes an environmental disaster. With all the decades when the area near the EJ&E could have been designated a non-residentail zone having come and gone and the housing and financial markets in meltdown, the CN acquisition would have an extremely negative impact on individual familes who are struggling to stay afloat in these very trying times, and in the case of my family, having lived in Chicago until 10 years ago, moved to get away from just such environmental concerns as Chicago and CN now want to inflict on our new home. I had lived near Midway and O'Hare airports with their nearby railyrards so find it nightmarish that after moving to get away from the air pollution and noise that it would be allowed to relocated directly next to our family once again. Chicago and CN need to develop a real solution to rail congestion rather without foisting the problem they cannot solve on other cities, towns, and villages they will have their environments ruined and wreck the tax bases which help keep schools supporting large numbers of lower income families operating.
Submitted by: John Puhr · Hoffman Estates, 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-13975 · back to the docket sheet