Comment EI-22789
Received or sent (printed as 5/14/2016)
Dear Mr. Navecky: We are contacting you regarding the pending Great Lakes Basin Rail System, in hopes that you will not allow this railway to pass through Porter County. Should this railway go through Porter County as currently planned, it will travel within 500’ of our home and across prosperous and fertile farm land. The people in this area use wells for water, and this would severely pollute our water should an accident occur. If the spill involved chemicals or toxic material, it could be catastrophic. The repeated pollution emitted by these trains would also impact our soil over time; as stated in the Water, Air, and Soil Pollution research, “Railway transportation as a serious source of organic and inorganic pollution.” This article may be found at www.ncbI.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3096763. Our area depends on a volunteer fire department and small police force. They are not equipped to quickly and effectively provide for the needs of our community while handling all that is required when a train accident occurs. This would be especially true when the accident involved a chemical, toxic material spill, and or involved the need for immediate evacuation of the area involved. The CSX train accident that involved 3 trains and occurred on Friday, January 6, 2012, at 1:18 p.m., within 6 miles of my home is proof of this. The accident occurred at 1:18 p.m. and smoke did not begin to dissipate from the site until 5:30 p.m. Even though my home was within 6 miles of the accident and officials were unsure of what had been spilled and what may be floating in the air, I was still not notified of any danger. I was informed two hours after the accident occurred by my husband, who saw the accident on the news, while he was at work. Diesel fuel was spilled, but fortunately the train cars that had been carrying chemicals were empty. This accident occurred on a family’s fertile and prosperous farm land. If those tank cars had still contained chemicals, that farmers crops would have been contaminated, and it would have meant an end for that family’s income and those depending on that farmer’s crops. This accident occurred on a country road, so the impact of the road being closed for days was not as severe as it could have been. The families that were evacuated were minimum but it still impacted them. Some of them evacuated their home without remembering to bring their daily medications. What if they had been required to be gone for longer than the 8-9 hours? The trains that would be traveling on the proposed Great Lakes Basin Railway would be carrying multiple types of material, including chemicals. This railway would be affecting State Road 2, Route 6, and 421. These are the major roads for this area and are already traveled heavily by emergency vehicles, trucks, school busses, and those traveling in and out of Porter County. This additional rail system through Porter County would severely impact how long it took for ambulances to arrive to those in need as well as transporting them to area hospitals. It would also affect how quickly fire crews and/or police officers would arrive during an emergency. Many of our students are already on a school bus for over an hour each day, and the additional train tracks and trains would only lengthen that trip. Longer time on the school bus prevents students from getting homework done, getting needed physical activity, and in turn causes loss of sleep and affects the ability for students to learn. We do not have a trauma facility in this area and our hospital is not equipped to handle the kind of catastrophes that could occur from a train accident. Therefore all patients would be receiving reduced quality of care, especially when you compact this with delays in arrival due to the trains and train tracks. This would mean the difference between a patient getting better, permanent disability, or life and death. We have all seen the statistics of what happens to patient care when staff at a medical facility becomes overwhelmed. When you consider the number of freight trains that will be using this railway daily, the products that they will be carrying, and consider human error, you can see the potential for serious accidents. The increased trains and tracks will also cause increased pedestrian and auto injuries, as accidents always increase when you involve train tracks and people. Our child has asthma and allergies. According to an article from PubMed, “Effects of concentrated ambient particles and diesel engine exhaust on allergic airway disease in Brown Norway rats and Diesel exhaust particles exposure increases severity of allergic asthma in young mice“, both articles may be accessed at www.ncbI.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20198910 and www.ncbI.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24112543. The pollution emitted from trains traveling so close to our home would be terrible for his health, the health of our family, and our neighbors. The noise and vibration of repeated train traffic would also interrupt the sleep patterns, and overall health of everyone in the area. This information can be found at www.ncbI.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27030897, “Long-term transportation noise annoyance is associated with subsequent lower levels of physical activity” and “The growth of railway ground vibration problems- A review” at ww.ncbl.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed26493344. Both articles attribute noise and vibration of trains to those nearby contributing to loss of sleep and increased obesity. Loss of sleep contributes to increased accidents, loss of focus, and an increase in illnesses that cause loss of work and poor work performance. The repeated vibration caused by the trains has also been shown to change heart rhythm, and would cause heart problems to some individuals over time. All or any of the above issues would be devastating to our community. The railways have also been proven to decrease property value. When you consider all the negative ways that this railway system would impact people’s health, water, agriculture, safety, property values, and transportation system, you must agree that this railway would not bring any positive results for this community. Thank you for your time and consideration. Sincerely, Mr. John Clemens Mrs. Cheryl Clemens
Submitted by: John & Cheryl Clemens · Westville, IN
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-22789 · back to the docket sheet