Comment EI-24956
Received or sent (printed as 7/14/2016)
I am writing this letter in strong opposition to the proposed Great Lakes Basin railroad. This project has been created by and for the benefit of one man. No railroad companies have signed on to use this railroad. The funding is not available to build this railroad. If this unneeded railroad is halfway built when the funding runs out, our state is not financially able to complete it. It is quite literally a project that no one wants and no one will use. Why have these proposals been taken so seriously when there is no credible source of funding? One of the many reasons for my opposition is the damage to the local environment. Just because land is currently being used for agriculture does not mean that that land is “undeveloped.” It is being used for a family business. It is used as habitat for local wildlife. It is used as a preservation of wetlands and woodlands. To build a large, busy railroad through this would ruin it. Farmers will not be able to access their fields and farm with ease on their own land. Water will not flow normally across these fields as a railroad berm will now be cutting through them. I see numerous examples of this lack of flow of water which damages cropland currently. In addition to the environmental concerns, there are also safety concerns. Numerous roads would either have rail crossing or have to be closed, creating a safety concern for rural residents’ access to emergency medical and fire personnel. I grew up outside of Lee, Illinois, where there have been multiple train derailments, including one on my grandfather’s farm. This resulted in a potential life threatening situation for anyone nearby this situation, and also severely compacted the soil, hurting the crop yields on his farm. It is stated in publications that this railroad will likely carry hazardous materials. Why is it OK to carry hazardous materials near my family, when it is not deemed safe for the Chicago region? Finally it will damage the quality of life for the communities. Family farms will be torn in pieces, and farmland values will undoubtedly go down. (After all, who wants to farm a chopped up farm, and who wants to live next to a railroad?) No one will be able to afford to use or have a necessity to use the oft –quoted railroad access to farmers. The noise pollution and light pollution will be an additional problem. Please do not approve a project that will damage the social wellbeing, the environment, and the safety of our community. This project cannot financially be completed and has no potential users. Please end this now.
Submitted by: Alexander Johnson · Milwaukee, WI
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-24956 · back to the docket sheet