Comment EI-22758
Received or sent (printed as 5/12/2016)
Office of Environmental Analysis 395 E Street, SW Washington, DC 20423-0001 Dave Navecky, Re: Docket FD35952_01 Mr. Navecky: I oppose the Great Lakes Basin LLC rail line project. I would like to express my environmental concerns over the proposed Great Lakes Basin Transportation, LLC rail line project. My centennial 160 acre family farm in Grundy County,Illinois, will be bisected according to the proposed Great Lakes Basin Transportation rail line route . My major concerns are the permanent destruction of prime farmland approximately 6,700 acres (20 acres per mile for 270 miles plus the rail yard proposed for the Manteno area of Kankakee County)and large fields will be divided in smaller pieces. Additional major public environmental issues which will affect prime farmland in Illinois include, but are not limited to: high speed train derailments of freight trains hauling hazardous toxic materials will cause toxic chemical spills on prime farmland which will permanently destroy the soil and render it useless for crop production; the rail line in the rural communities will cause much longer response times for police, fire and ambulance vehicles to respond to emergencies due to the increased length of time at railroad crossings and numerous township road closures and the numerous heavy trains will cause soil compaction and tile damage which will cause flooding of our prime farmland resulting in significantly decreasing the number of bushels per acres of corn and soybeans and loss of fertile topsoil. Finally, everyone in our community will be exposed to excessive noise, noxious odors, and intrusive bright lights throughout the day and night. The Surface Transportation Board in Washington DC must deny the Great Lakes Basin LLC rail line project from being constructed on valuable prime Illinois farmland which will significantly impact the corn and soybeans production because large acres of prime Illinois farmland will be rendered useless and destroyed permanently. Marsha Tesdal 10925 Nettle Creek Road Grundy County, Newark, Illinois 60541
Submitted by: Marsha Tesdal · Newark, Illinois
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-22758 · back to the docket sheet