Comment EI-23199
Received or sent (printed as 6/2/2016)
Mr Navecky, I write this letter AGAINST the Great Lakes Basin Proposed Rail Line. This proposed line runs irresponsibly through our family owned and operated farm at a 45 degree angle in New Durham Township, LaPorte County IN starting at Mile 3.9 and going to mile 3.2 and again at Mile 2.5. This proposed route is extremely invasive and runs through 5 of our 7 productive fields.This rail line is not needed and even if there was a need it could be routed along the many/underused rail lines already in our area. In addition to running through our productive Centennial Farm, It runs close behind our homestead and also runs close behind a second home we own dividing our farm and making parts difficult to access. Private crossing will likely not be available due to the Staging lines that will make 5 tracks running through our land. In Addition to losing a large percentage of productive land and income, this would create small triangle and odd shaped parcels that are inefficient and wasteful to farm and will cut the productivity of adjoining parcels due to waste of point rows and overlaps. Agricultural land is a finite commodity and feeds the world. We are losing Millions of Acres of productive farm ground every year. The Legacy we will leave our next generations is that we did not have the fore sight to plan to feed an exploding world population. Our Family for Decades has fought the loss of Farm Land to residential and commercial exploitation. We have never sold a lot even to a family member for building to preserve farm land and now we are being exploited for our efforts to protect the land. Additionally, these developers don't know the rail business and also have no right to ask to profit by selling utility easement rights that further degrade our quality of life and blemish the land we have worked and protected for generations. Please DO NOT approve this project and let your legacy be that of responsible stewardship and protection of our family Business and the future food source for a growing world. Respectfully, Mark Hannon http://www.ipsnews.net/2014/05/small-farmers-loss-land-increases-world-hunger/
Submitted by: Mark Hannon · Michigan City, 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-23199 · back to the docket sheet