Comment EI-23961
Received or sent (printed as 6/20/2016)
According to the GLB narrative mp130 to mp140 needs built along the preferred route" because otherwise they could not connect to the Illinois Railway line. The Illinois railway line according to it's website is "Illinois Railway (IR) is comprised of four track segments in what is often called the “Sand Capital of the World”. Customers served include U.S. Silica, Fairmount Minerals, Techni Sand, James Hardie, Watco Reload, ADM, Behr Iron and Unimin." It is 113 miles long. This is not a Class 1 railroad, therefore please explain why GLB plans on servicing this line when doing so is a direct contradiction of their stated purpose which is to bypass Chicago and service only class one railroads? Connecting to this line does not service a class one railroad. Furthermore please explain why we should be subjected to this location to simply pick up the sand hauled by Illinois Railway. Sand is a limited resource and we must be practical, it's production in Ottawa Illinois is limited and will eventually end. But the destruction to the land by a train track is forever. Please also explain why if this track was built as GLB states it could not be by Dayton the GLB track still could hook up to the Illinois Railway track as this IR track runs north south and in this area the GLB line runs east west. The two lines could meet in the Dayton area. Dayton is also substantially closer to the Silica Sand plant in Ottawa, why carry sand out of Dayton and into Serena, when you could leave the sand in Dayton and pick it up there? Please explain why this is not more preferable from a transportation and environmental aspect. If Silica Sand really wanted to use this line as GLB seems to think, why wouldn't they want the line closer to their sand reserves? I think it is wrong to connect to a small non class one railroad that services a very limited market to this line, the other companies mentioned are also located no where near Serena and it's "preferred" interchange. Also the GLB route people will tell you Serena has a grain elevator that would use the track, please explain then why the grain elevator does not use the existing Illinois Railway track that runs through it's plant, but would use the new GLB line? Please also explain why a seasonal skydive business in Dayton, that could be relocated anywhere is a more preferred business to GLB and the STB than Prime Farmland that can never be replaced or relocated?"
Submitted by: Mary Scheppler
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-23961 · back to the docket sheet