Comment EI-24705
Received or sent (printed as 7/12/2016)
To Mr. Dave Navecky I am writing comments regarding the proposed Great Lakes Basin rail road. My family own, operate and live on our family farm located at the address above. Our property lies between 1/2 mile and 1 mile east on Herman Road, between mile marker 161 and 162 of the project. Our farm consists mostly of Conservation Reserve Program acres planted to trees and prairie primarily for wildlife habitat and selected as so as part of the Green River priority watershed. In addition our farm is adjacent to a wind farm, has an east to west 345,000 volt transmission line, a 6 petroleum pipe line, also running east and west, and a repurposed pipeline carrying an inter continental telecommunication line. We also have a Christmas Tree farm with over 100 customers that cut their own trees. Drainage from our area is generally east to west with 3 - 5 intermittent streams providing drainage for a substantial subsurface tile area as well as surface water runoff. Concerns: Our main concern is for the proposal to have 5 staging tracks from MP 158 to 162. Activities in this yard proposed to be maintenance and refueling post a hazard to surface and groundwater in the priority watershed. Soils of the area also have gravel at 4 - 6' of depth increasing the risk. The drainageways provide wildlife corridors that would be interrupted by the main tracks and even more so with the staging tracks. Noise from the main lines and staging tracks to neighboring homes will be enhanced by westerly prevailing winds and topography. Lighting for the staging area also will destroy the dark skies of the area. Currently there exists a BN crossing 1 1/2 miles east of our property that runs to the northwest. The proposed railroad would basically frame our property on 3 sides posing safety concerns for police and fire response times. In a larger sense, the continued loss of prime farmland in Illinois is a problem, and the proposed rail road would not only displace thousands of acres of the best soils in the world, but would accelerate the conversion of this valuable resource for non farm uses. Our family has owned this land for 46 acres with our 4th generation of Bybees working and enjoying our farm. As can be seen from the utility and other uses on or adjacent to our land, our community has done our part to provide energy, communication and transportation to our neighbors to the east and west. Enough is enough. Please consider these environmental concerns and recognize that prime farmland is a natural resource and agriculture needs to be protected in our community. Thank you for your attention. Sincerely, Joe and Pam Bybee"
Submitted by: Joseph Bybee · Bybee Farms
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-24705 · back to the docket sheet