Comment EI-22842
Received or sent (printed as 5/17/2016)
Dear Mr. Navecky, I am writing this letter in protest against the proposed GLB Railroad. There are several reasons why I’m against the proposal. The main reason would be the impact on the way of life for the many people along the proposed route. I have lived in the country all but 13 years of my life. The 13 were spent in Valparaiso. I moved back to the country because it is a way of life. That is why we all live out here. Many people don’t mind the traffic, pollution, noise and crime that most cities endure, but the people that live out in the country choose the quiet, fresh air way of live for a reason. My family and most of my friends own farms. Farming is a way of life that is important to us all, even to the people that are trying to take that away from us. I personally know several families that own farms along the proposed route that will interfere with their livelihood. Most of those farms have been in their families for generations and for someone to come in and just take their land and their lifestyle away is appalling at best. If this railroad goes through, it will affect the crops, livestock, water supply, air quality as well as the noise impact. People out in the country have wells for the water we drink. Running a railroad through here will only contaminate our wells. What are we supposed to drink then? What are we supposed to feed to our livestock? What about the air pollution? We moved here to get away from the pollution from things like trains. The noise and vibrations will negatively affect our livestock and crops as well. How many homes are you planning on seizing and destroying? How many churches? How many of those places are consider historic? The potential for train accidents that involve hazardous materials is beyond frightening. We have all seen on the news where there are train derailments along a seemingly safe area out in the country with hazardous materials. The news people always comment on “how lucky they are that it was in a rural area”. But what they never mention is the impact of that rural area in regards to the contamination of livestock and water after the accident. No one does studies on how that all affects the people in that area. The soil around that area will be contaminated simply from the oils and fuels that come off the train. The pond, lakes and streams too will become contaminated which will impact the wildlife in our area as well. The construction of this railroad is another story in itself. The time it will take and the devastating effect on the surrounding area of the work site is something no one wants to see. Our roads cannot handle the traffic it will take to get the hundreds of thousands of loads of stone and materials to the sight. What is going to happen then? Who is going to fix those roads? Where is the money going to come from for those roads? Also, who is going to benefit from all this construction? I’m sure it will not be locals. It will probably be some out of state business and will be absolutely no help to the people of Indiana. You are the people we have voted into office. The people we are trusting to do the right thing for US, not some rich corporation that will “owe you one” if you put this railroad through. There is not one person I have talked to that thinks this is a good idea. You say the reason is because of the delays it takes to get through Chicago. There is a simple solution to that. You know how long it takes to get through that area, simply allow for that time. It’s the same thing when receiving anything from overseas. You have to allow for the travel time. This is no different. The people that own houses, not farms will also be affected in a terrible way. If they try to sell their homes to get out of the path of the train, they will not get anything close to what their property is worth because nobody is going to buy a house with a train going through the yard. The property values will decrease to next to nothing and thousands of people will lose what they have worked YEARS to create. I know this railroad will not affect any of you I am writing to, nor will it affect the people that are proposing it. But because it doesn’t affect you is NO REASON to vote this through. How would you like your property values to drop to nothing? How would you like your lifestyle taken away against your will? How would you like someone that lives nowhere near you or knows you tell you how you should live and what is “good for you”? How would you like someone to come in and ruin all you have worked your entire life for just for a few dollars? This is what you are doing to thousands of people and it is NOT RIGHT! The only way this railroad should even be considered is if everyone within a 10 mile radius the entire route vote yes for it, which will never happen, because as I have said, there are too many lives that will be ruined. This railroad is not the answer to what you say are problems. This will ruin thousands of lives. That is not worth ANY amount of money. The people proposing this mess will not be affected. If everyone involved in wanting this railroad put through would live in this area, have their lives ruined and lose all they have worked for their entire lives, then I would consider it, but they all will be untouched and therefore do not care how many lives they affect. This to me is criminal. For me, my family and all my farming friends and neighbors, we say NO!!! to this railroad. It is up to you in office to protect us and do what is RIGHT, not what is PROFITABLE!! Thank you Carol Hartman Rural Valparaiso, IN.
Submitted by: Carol Hartman · Valparaiso, 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-22842 · back to the docket sheet