Comment EI-22520
Received or sent (printed as 5/7/2016)
[Beloit] Dave Navecky and the STB, I am writing this letter in regards to the proposed Great Lakes Basin railroad system, Docket No. FD 35952. My family owns property in Bradford Township, Rock County Wisconsin, near the current proposed route, in which the railway would pass just feet from our property line. I want to make it very clear that we are AGAINST this railway coming through our backyards, for many reasons, which I will elaborate on below. Please take the time to hear me out, as this is crucial to the lives of my family, as well as many other's in our local community. The land in which my parents own has been in our family for generations. I intend on being the future owner of this property, and to be able to enjoy it in peace and quiet, and for it's intended use as a rural property. I am a Licensed Counselor in both Wisconsin and Illinois and devote most of my time working with clients with substance abuse and mental health issues. Spending time on our rural land is a type of self-care that I have always been able to retreat to, without having to worry about noise, pollution, and environmental hazards that a railway would bring through. I went to the scoping meeting held in Janesville, and agree with all the farmer's concerns that were mentioned, I hope they are engrained in your thoughts for consideration. They verbalized many quantitative facts, with numbers and loss of income, land, property value etc. I am concerned with all of those things, as well as many qualitative issues that are hard to measure and factually prove; issues such as psychological and physiological effects. I will list below factual reasons why we are against the current path of this GLB railroad. Land-locked property and blocked fire lane- The number one issue for your consideration is that our land can only be accessed by ONE ROAD, a dead end road, and it would be landlocked by a creek and other fields should the railroad be block, stopped, or worked on for maintenance. This can be seen on the map as 'Milner Road' in Bradford Township, Rock County, Wisconsin. This road would be impacted as it is shown on the current route map to have tracks laid down across it. If there is a train stopped, how will I be able to tend to my horse/animals in an emergency situation? How would we receive emergency care for any of our family members should a situation arise? There would be no way to get there. We have a neighbor who lives next to our property with the same concerns, one way in, one way out. They have animals as well. I have read in an article recently, that a Wisconsin community is having issues related to this specific situation which have severely affect their ability to be accessed by emergency vehicles, for children to reach the school bus without climbing through boxcars, and for residents to get to work on time. See link below. (If you have issues viewing it, it is from the Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune 'Trains block Wisconsin roads, lives.) http://www.wisconsinrapidstribune.com/story/news/investigations/2015/08/10/train s-block-roads-lives--regulations-stall/31135593/ The end of Milner Road connects to Turtle Creek, one of our areas main sources of water. This is a fire lane for the local fire department. What are alternate routes that would deter from having to land-lock our property and that of our neighbors, as well as block the fire lane from it's emergency use? This rail route could easily be redirected away from Milner Road. Psychological Effects- I would like to add psychological effects possible to landowners, neighboring land owners, communities, and animals impacted to the list of issues that you examine as it relates to short and long term effects. The impact of stress from this type of trauma, including cognitive, physical, emotional, financial, and behavioral. Cognitive: general attitude, mind racing, stress, difficulty concentrating, the sense that life is over whelming and that one cannot problem solve. Physical: sleep disturbances, homeostasis, heart racing, chest pains, dizziness, restlessness, agitated behavior, high blood pressure, lack of energy, hyperventilating, muscle tension, anxiety, digestive upsets, grinding teeth. Emotional: feeling overwhelmed, helpless, hopeless, depression, frustration, apathy. Financial: Decrease in land value, loss of revenue, inability to secure property rental, loss of business because of road closures, inability to make it to work on time for blocked rail crossings. Behavioral: Decreased interaction with community members, poor work relations, avoidance of others/poor mood, interference with self-care hobbies due to noise and location of the railroad. This proposed plan is currently affecting thousands of people in a magnitude of ways. Add it to your list of research the impact it has already had, and could have long term, for generations to come. How the animals will be affected; their temperament, behavior, the safety of owners to handle irritated livestock, ability to produce milk, etc. These structurally form what a person would need to be of healthy state of mind. Do you see how every single one of these factors listed would be jeopardized by this proposed railroad? Can you see and hear already how it has negatively impacted so many people? Their needs are being threatened. I would ask that you research the negative affects on humans if these elements are taken away or threatened on a daily basis. How this would negatively affect our animals, livestock, and wildlife. I have a horse on our property, within yards of this proposed rail- how will his primal needs to threatened, how will this affect his hearing, the safety of myself as his rider? Consider the impact you may have already witnessed to the psyche of each speech you have heard, and imagine it multiplied 10 fold, 100, 1,000, or more- that is the emotional and physiological damage that a project like this could magnify. Wildlife and providing- Year round our property is utilize for hunting deer, turkey, and other wildlife as a way to provide food for our family. For many this may be shrugged off as insignificant, but for some, it is understood that this is a way of life. I take pride in knowing I can provide my family with animals harvested from our property and our neighboring farmer's and family's land. A railroad would devastate the area and rid it of wildlife necessary for us to sustain our current way of life. The noise, the pollution, the added tracks, the electric lines, potential spills, and maintenance of this railroad would cut through prime hunting land, just yards from my tree stand. This way of life would cease for us. I cannot even comprehend how it can be taken away so quickly, and without any consent of our own. I want to teach my children one day, the ways that my father and grandfather have taught me to live off this land. There are already limited habitats for many of the wildlife near our property, such as pheasants whose numbers have depleted in recent years. This current route would negatively impact the natural habitat of many animals. This land is rented out to local farmer's to grow crops to supply their local families, farms, and businesses. The income from this farmland is my parents' main source of income at this current time. Current renters may back out from renting due to the inefficiency to cross railroad tracks to get to the farmland, and having polluted soil from the railroad. How will my family be compensated for loss of income and loss of property value should this rail go through? Water quality- Water quality is another major concern, as we keep our horse(s) on this property, and have considered building a home there one day. How does this affect our property and the quality of water should there be a spill? How would this affect the water, the soil, the crop land? Turtle Creek, the main water source in our area would be affected by a derailment, should oil, or other chemicals leak into the water. How would this affect us? How would this affect the animals and livestock that drink from it? Property Value decrease and other concerns- With our property being near the current proposed route, this would surely decrease it's value dramatically. It's value would decrease, yet we would see no compensation from the railroad. Three weeks ago, before finding out about this proposed railroad project, I had talked with my parent's about building a home on this property, a lifelong dream of both theirs' and mine. This railroad would devastate those plans. Who would want to live that close to a railroad? How is this dream suddenly being taken away from us, for private gain of someone else? Alternate options- Utilizing existing railroads in Rock County instead of blazing through valuable farmland. It is ridiculous to even fathom taking away this land when alternate options exist. Having listened to local farmers plea for this railroad plan to be abandoned, I can see why they are fighting for their land as well. Cutting up their land into sections, only to make their already difficult jobs, even more time consuming and inefficient. Oil spills, run off, fumes, and debris would absolutely harm the environment of crops, those living in the immediate area, and the wildlife and livestock. I wanted to keep this letter short in hopes that you would read it's entirety. It is hard to put into words the detrimental affects this project would bring to our area. We have worked hard to keep what we have earned, and with every ounce of us want to keep it that way. Please consider rerouting this railway away from Milner Road, Rock County as it appears you have many other options and routes to utilize. Please stop this nightmare from happening to us. Sincerely, Jada Miller, MSAT, LCPC, ATR, CADC jadajobird@yahoo.com 608-290-5597 Written on behalf of James and Pamela Milner, owners of the above mentioned property.
Submitted by: Jada · Rock Against the Rail · Beloit, WISCONSIN
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-22520 · back to the docket sheet