Comment EI-25611
Received or sent (printed as 11/22/2016)
My name is Jerri Noller. My husband Gary and I live on Shirland Rd., Rockton, Il. Our farm will take a direct hit from the September 2016 proposed route of the Great Lakes Basin railroad project. We will not only loose our ability to raise Black Angus Cattle on our farm, we will also lose our farm buildings and our home. I am sure it is of no concern to the builders of this project, but we have been married 50 years and we have worked hard all of these years to build this our retirement nest. This is not a Centennial farm, we did not inherit the land, we have worked harder than you can probably imagine. Just think of this farm as an IRA account. The land, buildings and livestock all had value and now it is virtually worth nothing. In addition, the following environmental issues are of the utmost importance to this area in northern Illinois: impact on the local water quality and aquafer, air pollution from high speed trains, the noise produced by trains in the quiet rural area, the impact on wildlife; birds, bees, waterfowl and four legged critters. Equally important are these issues: for those who will still have a home there is the issue of insurance: rural insurance rates are based on the fire departments ability to reach property quickly and with a quick source to water (no fire hydrants here), school buses ability to serve school children, farmers ability to reach their fields safely to work the land, road closures causing a disruption of area traffic flow for fire departments, rescue personnel, school buses and working people and of course the major issue is the decrease in property values. Be thorough in your research of this project and you will quickly come to the conclusion that this rail line is not a good fit for any property in the 3 states and 11 counties targeted. Sincerely, Jerri Noller
Submitted by: Jerri Noller · Rockton, 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-25611 · back to the docket sheet