Comment EI-22515
Received or sent (printed as 5/7/2016)
The proposed rail line would have a substantial negative impact on the regions water shed. The GLB route passes over several stretches of Highly Erodible Land (HEL). HEL is a designation by NRCS (Natural Resource & Conservation Service). This land is usually rolling and/or hilly. Putting a rail route through such terrain would require a lot of cutting and filling to keep the rail route at an allowable grade. For instance, the route just east of Clay St. will have a grade change of 43 feet in one mile. Imagine the disruption of surface water that will cause. Most of south Lake County is out of the Lake Michigan watershed and not eligible to receive water from the lake according to the Great Lakes Treaty. Any significant spillage from tank cars during a derailment will put our ground water sources in jeopardy. Such a spillage could also contaminate the Singleton Ditch/Kankakee watershed from which some municipalities draw their water. The Town of Lowell water well field is close to the proposed route and those wells are shallow. Years ago, Lowell tried to get Lake Michigan water and was denied by the Board of Governors of the Great Lakes.
Submitted by: Randal Klackle · Lowell, Indiana
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-22515 · back to the docket sheet