Comment EI-23506
Received or sent (printed as 6/7/2016)
Dear Mr. David Navecky, My husband and I are citizens who have lived in the rural Paw Paw area for almost 30 years, lovingly tending and restoring a small farmette very close to the proposed siting of the GLB RR. We chose to live here for closeness to nature that we could encourage, realizing that we would not necessarily have convenient access to some amenities. Never would we have imagined that our hard work to realize a dream of a country life could be overturned by a private corporation coveting somebody else's property for corporate profit. That being said, the proposed prospect of THREE railroad crossings very close together with the possibility of 110 trains/day coming through would definitely raise the decibel levels around here as well as the vibration and air pollution from idling cars or farm machinery!!! Moreover, that many railroad crossings would definitely affect emergency response times and other safety issues when hospitals are already 15-22 miles away and our local fire department depends upon volunteers. In light of the current oil spill and fires due to the Union Pacific accident in the Northwest, the possibility of an accident along this proposed route becomes more prominent in my mind, especially since a major porous aquifer in north central Illinois is along this route as well as valuable farmland, forest preserves, rivers, small communities, etc. Many of our rural towns depend upon volunteer firefighters, who may need extra training to deal with any hazardous materials accident. Who would be responsible for this additional burden in a time when many in rural areas are already economically stretched? Who would be responsible for the clean-up after an accident? Since it seems that this company has no prior experience running a railroad, taking on such a large venture seems presumptuous and disdainful of those who live and work on this land and love it. That I just found out about it accidentally, I find appalling. The feelings expressed by others at one of the community meetings in Belvidere (ALL against the GLB RR) are echoed by me. I have yet to meet anyone in this area who supports this boondoggle or feels the community would find any benefit from it. Sincerely, Amy Vose
Submitted by: Amy Vose · Amy Vose · Paw Paw, 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-23506 · back to the docket sheet