Comment EI-14068
Received or sent (printed as 10/1/2008)
I urge the STB to REJECT the proposal of Canadian National to purchase the EJ&E railroad. This proposal has absolutely ZERO benefit to Illinois. Nothing but a big fat tax bill to fix a problem caused by a foreign company to line its own pockets. Even the close-in communities that may see short-term rail traffic relief will ultimately suffer from this deal as any newly created capacity will be quickly backfilled. The taxpayers of northern Illinois are ALL losers in this proposal. In addition to the public safety issues that have been well documented by others, my other major objection to this acquisition is related to the loss of property value to my home and the 56 other homes in my neighborhood. The study the EIS, although stated to be “recent”, is from 2004 and cites home values in Cuyahoga County, OHIO, where the median home price last year was $154,000. In contrast, the median home price in Cook County in 2007 was more than $449,000. The average age of the homes in the study was 60 years. The EIS did not address the impact of increased rail traffic on newer neighborhoods at all. It is preposterous to suggest that this study is representative of homes along the EJ&E today. The comparison of our homes to this 4-year old study in Ohio is highly questionable and should be rejected. Using home values in Rolling Knolls as listed on Zillow and Cyberhomes, I have estimated the loss of property value in MY NEIGHBORHOOD ALONE, to be in the range of 3 to 3.5 million dollars. This comes to about 60-thousand dollars per home. These are SERIOUSLY large numbers and considering the shockingly high foreclosure activity we are seeing today, it is would be nothing less than irresponsibly negligent to avoid assessing the impact on property values. The safety of our groundwater is also a serious concern. None of the 57 homeowners in my neighborhood have access to municipal infrastructure, rather we rely on private wells for our water. While the EIS suggests that the likelihood of a hazardous material spill is remote, the risk DOES still exist, and in fact, has occurred on CN rail lines in the past, MORE THAN ONCE. Should a haz-mat incident occur along this stretch of rail, all of our wells would likely become contaminated. CN has been shown in recent years to have a deplorable safety record and has proven to be profoundly insufficient in their response to hazardous spills. The STB should seriously consider the impact of this unacceptable risk to the private water supply of taxpayers along the EJ&E. The STB should reject this proposal. But if it sees merit at all, the STB should force CN to pay 100% of the cost to fix the problems it will cause. This means EVERY congested grade crossing along the EJ&E – not just the 2 that are near its own rail yard in Joliet.
Submitted by: Janet Andrew · Elgin, 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-14068 · back to the docket sheet