Comment EI-22651
Received or sent (printed as 5/12/2016)
My concerns are the safety and hazardous conditions of implementing a railyard and freight train line. New research from federal scientists has found that levels of diesel soot in residential areas near the BNSF Intermodal Facility frequently spike higher than the national average for urban areas. The study, the first of its kind in Chicago, sheds light on health hazards posed by freight yards that are concentrated in some of the area's poorest communities. You wonder if somebody's exhaust pipe is in your window," said Foster, a retired nurse who has lived across from the west suburban yard for three years. "On some days you can smell the fumes. It's hard on our system." The Cicero yard is among more than a dozen facilities in Chicago and the suburbs where giant cranes move steel containers between trains and trucks. Nearly 340,000 people, including 38,000 children younger than 7, live within a half-mile of one of the intermodal terminals, according to a Tribune analysis of census data. More than 80 percent are Latino or African-American. Diesel exhaust from the equipment contributes to the Chicago area's chronic problem with soot pollution, which can trigger asthma attacks, cause heart damage and take years off lives. Federal officials say they have little power to do anything about it. Unlike factories and power plants, the diesel locomotives and trucks maneuvering around or passing through freight yards aren't subject to federal rules that require the latest pollution controls. New or refurbished diesel engines must be cleaner, but many older locomotives and other equipment can legally keep operating for years. Chicago has been a major rail hub since the 1800s, prompting decades of conflict between industry demands and the quality-of-life concerns of neighboring residents. The South and Southwest sides remain critical junctions in a freight system that today relies on modular containers exchanged between ships, rail cars and trucks. More than 7 million containers were transferred at Chicago area intermodal terminals in 2012, according to the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. Railroads promote the system as a economic engine that employs thousands and cuts pollution by reducing truck traffic. Most of the companies that operate freight yards in the area say they have been taking steps to reduce diesel pollution. "BNSF has continued to install cleaner diesel technology on numerous vehicles, including shuttle trucks, container cranes and switch engines," Amy Casas, a company spokeswoman, said in an email response to questions. Recent efforts to clean up aging locomotives and other freight equipment come as scientists increasingly raise alarms about the health costs of diesel pollution. Breathing even small amounts can inflame the lungs and trigger asthma attacks, studies have shown. Other research links exposure to cancer, heart attacks, brain damage and premature death."
Submitted by: Jason Kokos
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-22651 · back to the docket sheet