Comment EI-22374
Received or sent (printed as 5/1/2016)
Dear STB, My Assumptions… • Crude oil is being harvested in North Dakota, in particular from the Bakken formation. • The method by which the crude is being harvested includes a process called fracking (a method that is highly controversial in terms of the environment). • The largest share of the harvested crude is then transported by rail and road (trucking) to the east coast region, where it is then refined or exported to one or more other countries. • Rail shipments of this crude to the east coast region had rapidly spiked in 2013 through mid- 2015, driving a high demand for Chicago based rail passage. Fortunately these volumes are currently not sustained. Could they return? My objections… • I object to using fracking to harvest crude for the sale to foreign countries. This crude is a valuable resource for the United States which should be reserved for our own use in future years. Putting this crude on the world market encourages over-use of fossil fuels that is ultimately exasperating our path to global warming. • I object to using road and rail transportation of crude oil over long distances. These modes of transportation of large volumes of material over long distances are extremely inefficient compared to alternative modes. Among many factors, these inefficient modes of transportation, in the colossal scale of crude oil volumes, is an enormous contribution to CO2 emissions. Not to mention the fact that roads and rail aggressively compete against safe and environmentally resources needed for human beings, wild life, insects, and other fragile ecosystems. Our land surface is of limited quantity and quality. We must preserve this where all possible. This is the only place where we successfully live. In the case that I have no control over the fracking process and sale of this crude to other countries, I urge alternate modes of transportation of crude to its destination. Such alternatives to consider… Pipelines are capable of efficiently transporting vast quantities of material over long distances. They can be relatively easily placed both above and/or below grade, and can be spanned cross bodies of water. The use of pipelines allow for direct point to point delivery with minimal interference to the human and the ecological populations. Maritime vessels provide the most efficient mode of transportation of very large quantities of material such as crude oil. This efficiency is of particular interest when it involves movement of material over very long distances, such as overseas. This mode of transportation offers the least environmental impact to our planet. Maritime vessels travel in paths that are safely out of the harm of the most common human activities, which allows for a vast and efficient transportation system to co-exist with the human population. Although no one mode of transportation fits all the requirements, it is often the discerned combination of modes that provide the most practical solution. With the above assumptions, it would seem that the most economical and environmentally friendly solution is to use rail to transport crude from the Bakken fields to the closest point of the great lakes. From a port of the great lakes, the crude would then be transferred to maritime vessels. The vessels would then complete the transportation to its final location. I strongly urge the Surface Transportation Board to reject the application for additional railroad construction and transportation, in favor of more efficient modes of transportation. Sincerely, Michael Riegel Sources: Great Lakes Maritime Research Institute The Geography of Transport Systems (Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue, Dr. Brian Slack and Dr. Claude Comtois)
Submitted by: Michael Riegel · Bonfield, 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-35952/comment/EI-22374 · back to the docket sheet