Comment EI-8614
Received or sent (printed as 8/20/2008)
August 20, 2008 RE: CN Acquisition of EJ&E Railroad STB Finance Docket No. 35087 Ms. Phillis Johnson-Ball Surface Transportation Board 395 E Street, SW Washington, DC 20423 Dear Ms. Johnson-Ball: I am writing to you to express my vehement opposition to CN’s acquisition of the EJ&E railroad. As a resident of Frankfort, IL for the past 36 years, the acquisition will have an adverse financial and social impact in our community. Closer inspection of the Draft Environmental Impact Study reveals several key omissions and misstatement of fact. The DEIS does not identify one grade crossing in Frankfort that will be impacted by the acquisition. In fact, there are five grade crossings that will be impacted. One grade crossing of particular note is located near our community’s junior high school, and currently has no signaling. School buses serving our community’s grade schools traverse these grade crossings 224 times per day. My children ride those buses. Of the 71 voluntary measures that CN has proposed, none are situated within Frankfort. Furthermore, CN’s cost estimates of mitigation measures are grossly understated. The DEIS also does not address the adverse impact to our community’s emergency service providers. In essence, CN’s acquisition will bifurcate Frankfort into a North and South half, which will delay response times. Frankfort’s emergency service providers were omitted from the DEIS. CN’s dismal safety record coupled with the increase in hazardous freight traffic will only exacerbate this problem. These are just two of the many errors and omissions of the DEIS. Another issue that is particularly disturbing relates to CN’s laissez-faire attitude towards the costs related to mitigation measures. CN CEO Hunter Harrison was quoted in the Chicago Tribune as stating that he expects federal and state taxpayers to pay for mitigation measures. In these difficult economic times, both the State of Illinois and the federal government are operating under a budget deficit and cannot afford to subsidize a foreign corporation’s bottom line. The last time I checked, the United States is still a sovereign nation that does not acquiesce to the demands of a private foreign corporation. Once again, I ask that you reject the Environmental Impact Study and deny CN’s request to acquire the EJ&E Railroad. Josef Michuda 585 Aberdeen Road Frankfort, IL 60423
Submitted by: Josef Michuda · Frankfort, 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-8614 · back to the docket sheet