Comment EI-22857
Received or sent (printed as 5/17/2016)
Block GLB railroad. Protect out land and our people!May 17, 2016 Susan & Leslie Truetner 5520 N 7000W RD. Kankakee IL. 60901 Phone: 815-922-0661 To whom it may concern: I am writing this letter to block Great Lake Basin Railroad from coming through. It is going to have only negative effects to those whose property is on or near route. It’s going to have negative effects to surrounding areas. It will have environmental effects that can cause great harm. It will affect transportation systems, safety, impact on current land use, recreation, impact on agricultural activities (Biological Resources), water resources, navigation, geology and soils, air quality and climate, noise and vibration, energy resources, socioeconomics, cultural and historic resources, aesthetics, environmental justice, cumulative impacts and lost of income for families. Illinois does not have many nice State Parks and this area enjoys the Kankakee State Park. The GLB railroad will destroy our State Park. Environmental problems will be lost of a wet land since the tracks go over pond which is a beaver hebetate, it will chase newly bald eagles away from area, going over property by river that has many Indian artifacts, in the winter it will cause worse ice build up by bridges which have already been a problem, and cause problems with flow of water into River. Since are family are farmers in the area I am afraid of how it going to Impact current land use. It going to permanent destruction of prime farmland (appr. 6,700 acres: 20 per mile for 270 miles), Large fields will be divided in small pieces which will decrease productivity, increase compaction of soils due to shorter rows, farm implements may be too big to use on newly created smaller fields, large amounts of fill are needed to build “fly-over” and bridges, livestock wondering on tracks due to poor or broken fencing, and maintenance of the unused portion of 200 food wide easement. It GLB railroad will cause problems with weed control and bring in new types of weeds to the area farmers. It is going to affect our field tiles and wells. Environmentally it will cause flow of water which will cause standing water and swamps. Environmentally the train vibration will break down our lime stone/road which will cause the earth to collapse which effect wells and water flow. Our farm will be affected by GLB railroad for many reasons. The property we have could have been divided into two parcels and with what the train takes up will cause our parcels to be too small which will cause lost of income for us which the GLB railroad will not compensate us for. Water resources are of great concern anywhere. GRB rail road will cause the natural grade of the land to be altered disrupting the natural flow of surface water, potentially creating artificial ponds/wetlands, stagnate water will lead to issues with mosquitoes, wildlife, and access to areas, and possible ground water contamination due to spills and/or derailments. The GLB rail road is not looking at the big picture the want to make money for themselves and take away our livelihoods. I know many who our on the train route including myself say they will move out of Illinois. We are taking about farmers and individuals who pay taxes and bring income to the area. It may bring jobs at first to build the railroad but once it is build it will cause those individuals to be unemployed alone with millions of truckers since the train is going to replace container trucks. I do not see how GLB railroad is going to benefits anyone but those who have invested in GLB railroad. We need to stop this and save our environment. We can not keep taking farm land to accommodate population since the most important thing to sustain life is having land to grow food and having water that not polluted. I had moved out here to get out of a polluted area since it had great effect on my health. It will have great impact on health issues with wildlife and human life. We can not allow the GLB railroad to destroy our environments. Please stop GLB Railroad from ever coming. Save our environment and way of life. Sincerely yours Leslie & Susan Truetner
Submitted by: Susan Truetner · Kankakee, IL.
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-22857 · back to the docket sheet