Comment EI-24493
Received or sent (printed as 7/9/2016)
What happens if a drainage problem occurs on the railroad property? Will the railroad fix it? Will the railroad let the landowner access railroad property to fix it? Why is it that this railroad is avoiding towns and cities? I think it is because Mr. Patton wishes to haul hazardous materials on this line. Other railroads find it necessary to go through towns and cities with their products. I attended a meeting in Morris, Illinois where Mr. Patton was asked if hazardous materials would be hauled. His response was a railroad cannot refuse to haul anything." This project will cross 16 roads in Kankakee County. An immediate concern is the increased time for first responders to get to an emergency. Additional road crossings for this project also create additional time needed to get to work, school, church, shopping areas, hospitals, etc. The town of Grant Park in Kankakee County will be decimated by this project. Over 15,000 acres will be taken from one of its two townships for the railport. In addition 24 acres of land per mile will be taken for the railroad in Grant Park. Additionally in Grant Park one newer subdivision will be eliminated by the railroad route. These people will not stay in Grant Park. Taxes will be lost for schools due to decreased enrollment maybe forcing schools to close. Mr. Patton claims this railroad will enhance property values. Ask any real estate agent and they will tell you the cheapest land and homes are near a railroad. Mr. Patton claims his railroad will create jobs. He did not say any jobs would go to the unemployed. I think not because these people lack the skills to build a railroad. Railroads tend to bring their own crews. Mr. Patton said his railroad will take 1 million trucks off the road. He indicated his railroad could bring 250,000 jobs in the future. This would still leave 750,000 people looking for jobs if those trucks are in deed removed. As the population continues to increase, how can farmers continue to meet the need for food if the best land is taken out of production? Flooding due to altered flow of water could eliminate additional land from agricultural production. Spills would penetrate into water both on the surface and below the surface. This would penetrate wells, etc. used for drinking. Spills would eliminate even more land from production due to lack of containment. In the event of spills who is responsible for cleanup and containment? Rural fire departments may not be qualified to handle such disasters. Spills would require additional for cleanup and containment. Who pays for this? Noise levels from trains will cause farm animals to be less productive for things such as milk and eggs. Having more track crossings in an ares such as Kankakee County creates the possibility of more vehicle-train and farm equipment-train accidents. Hauling hazardous materials and chemicals can endanger the lives and health of people due to leaks, spills, etc. The stubbing and closing of roads will put more farm equipment onto major highways causing more accidents, deaths, etc, due to differences in speed of farm equipment and vehicles such as cars and trucks. Splitting of farm fields will cause even more compaction because farmers will have to make more turns when planting and harvesting. Why not send in a technology team such as Google to see if it can develop ways to solve the congestion problem in Chicago? This could protect the environment as well as preserve precious farm land. The CREATE project is already working on the congestion traffic in Chicago and having success. Why is another project needed such as the GLB railroad for the same purpose? Plus railroad traffic is decreasing. Farming is a $1.5 billion dollar business in Kankakee County. It is estimated the yearly loss due to this railroad project will be $69 million dollars. Kankakee County cannot stand this annual loss. Plus I think the estimate is low. Land is a limited resource--once it is destroyed it cannot be recreated. Increased time will be required to farm divided fields due to having to cross railroad tracks and having to farm smaller parcels making it necessary to make more turns when planting and harvesting."
Submitted by: Garry Junker
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-24493 · back to the docket sheet