Comment EI-14339
Received or sent (printed as 9/23/2008)
The U.S.DOT HazMat regulations going into effect on 1/1/09 are major concerns that the City of Chicago and CN will attempt to route these life threatening chemical via the proposed EJ&EW route. The nature of the glacial formations and geography is a factor regarding the DEIS that has been research and documented in the attached university thesis. As part of the DEIS it is requested that this research be considered and the local soils be tested to ensure that non mitigable damage to the sole water supply not be ruined. The derailment predictions coupled with the Slack Effect" of these documented correlations to the extended length of the project CN trains. The Ethanol trans loading sites on the CN ROW will result in spills in this hydroscopic product. The number of individual wells and septic systems will act act conduits into the sole water table for a community. This is not a factor in the CN current network since the the water supply is from the Great Lakes. The Supreme Court prohibits the EJ&EW communities from this source forever. The fact that the EJ&EW goes near the Fox River this water source will be at risk. The J tracks go over a bridge over the Des Plaines River so the Joliet water source will be at risk as well as those communities downstream. The tragic Chatsworth Commuter train crash with a freight train was calculated by the FRA as an event that could not happen. The probable cause was an engineer texting to a teenager. Had the freight train been transporting Ethanol for example the accident would have been infinitely of a tragedy. Had this happened with a Metra and CN train it would have ignited our community and ruined our water supply. The moratorium requested in this environmental arena should actually be a out right denial of CN's request. There is NO possible way the Grand Trunk Company would be able to compensate the community for this probable accident. The current route has multiple paths to reach an accident and the separation between commuter and freight is already in place. The community volunteer fire protection is neither equipped or staffed to handle the type of accident that occurred in Chatsworth nor a multi day fire fueled by ethanol. UPS has a history of training their shippers to ship HazMat below the 1000 pound cut off before a placard is required. A shipper may in fact ship multiple bills of lading each with below the 1000 point. The local fire and police therefore have no idea that they and public are at a higher risk. The CN plan to ship 20% HazMat cargo of course does not count this standard loop hole that UPS encourages on a daily basis. UPS is in fact the largest shipper of HazMat cargo via trains. Thanks you."
Submitted by: Richard Burkhart · TRAC · Deer Park, 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.
The text Environmental Risk Analysis of Chemicals Transported in Railroad Tank Cars.pdf ↓
Permanent address docketyard.org/d/FD-35087/comment/EI-14339
File docketyard.org/document/bde1cddef728b5347c9494238ef554bded114cd85e50c8b850dd6e9ede3ece0e.pdf · back to the docket sheet