Comment EI-22411
Received or sent (printed as 5/4/2016)
The Great Lakes Basin Train is proposing a route one mile from my home and less than one mile from Turtle Creek. The environmental issues of building train tracks through southeastern rock county should be questioned. The southeastern part of Rock County is drained by Turtle Creek, which also flows into Illinois before joining the Rock River. GLB railroad has indicated in their paperwork and proposal that they do not cross any wetlands...there are wetlands on both sides of the creek. Furthermore the railroad is purposing to build track about 400 to 500 feet higher in elevation than the creek and one half mile from the creek and it's surrounding wetlands. This particular area has significant wetlands for several miles. This would be apparent to anyone who stood on the road and looked down at the creek. A derailment involving chemicals or petroleum products would drain into the creek because it is the lowest elevation in southern rock county. Turtle Creek and it's wetlands are important to the many migratory birds that pass through spring and fall and stop for water and to scavenge the corn and soybean fields before continuing on their journey. The creek is also home to eagles and herons..both of which eat fish from the creek. A chemical spill would also be catastropic event that would make the entire water supply for Rock County vulnerable. Charles Dunning, hydrogen logistics with the Wisconsin Water Science Center of the US Geological Survey states that all of Rock County's water comes from shallow aquifers, generally less than 250 feet, which are most susceptible to pollution . Because of the interconnection and close relationship of all groundwater in the county, the entire system is comsidered to be a single groundwater body. The crux of this is that a spill will negatively affect everyone's water. Water will have to be brought I for all people and animals in the county, because all water will be negatively affected. The health and economic problems of undrinkable water would be astronomical. Hauling in water for livestock would be a full time job for a farmer. Hauling in water for schools and residents would be nearly impossible. At a question and answer session we asked how long the water would be undrinkable..no one had an answer I did some digging and have found that derailments have spread from 8 states in 2010 to 21 states in 2014. There were two train derailments in wisconsin recently (Watertown and Alma) and one in northern Illinois earlier this year. The Department of Transportation predicts that oil train derailments will be commonplace. Your own NTSB site shows ongoing investigations on numerous derailments We are concerned that this train is going to pass over and parallel to our very vulnerable wetlands and streams. We are concerned about derailments and what that will mean for our groundwater. After research, train derailments are not that uncommon. We request that the rail be moved somewhere where the entire county's ground water won't suffer if a derailment occurs.
Submitted by: dorothy heitke · Clinton, WI
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-22411 · back to the docket sheet