Comment EI-25638
Received or sent (printed as 11/29/2016)
As the late Paul Harvey commented: Paving over farmland is an UNERASEABLE MISTAKE". When the land & livelihood is taken from Farmers, an entire culture is killed. Not only do farmers work where they live, but they live where they work. No amount of payment for farmland can compensate for future loss of employment & food production. There is no "Fair Trade" agreement possible in replacing farming with a railyard & transportation project proposed. 15,000 acres of prime farmland, with many waterways flowing into the Kankakee River (ultimately the Illinois & Mississippi Rivers) supply not only local needs, but provide benefits far beyond rural communities of Kankakee County. Remove the viability of this area & you'll contribute to the degradation of the entire state & nation. Farmers do not "clock in" (or out) on a time clock, or get paid by the hour; neither are they salaried according to their education or experience. Farming is more than having a job; it is a way of life based upon hands-on learning experience from childhood through the ultimate "retirement" age: death. Often the legacy of a Farmer is continued for generations on the same land as their ancestors. This heritage is priceless. The proposed 15,000 acre railyard placement would spell the demise of one entire township (Sumner) and as a result the school district & village of Grant Park (recently named a "Train Town USA" by Union Pacific -- one of the Railroads not on board with the GLB project: sadly ironic as trivial as this may seem to an outsider. Besides all the new homes built & trees planted in this area (rural subdivision extensions of Grant Park) by many who have moved out here as a refuge from city & suburban existence, there is at least one church & 2 cemeteries centrally located within the proposed railyard. With at least 3 generations of relatives on both sides of my family buried in the 3 acre Heusing cemetery resting virtually "dead center" of the proposed railyard, I strongly object to the GLB project being planned for this area. I lived on 2 farms growing up & attending schools in Manteno & Grant Park; my mother's nephew lives on the farm which has been our "homeplace" for at least 4 generations; my parents built 2 brick houses (& farm machinery buildings" & planted many trees) all of which stand along opposite sides of the width of the "railyard". This is not an "undeveloped" area; it continues to be viably productive & conducive to healthy lifestyles as it is. A GLB railroad project can not reasonably substitute for the quality of life here. My concerns reach out much further than this immediate vicinity, & are shared by the many other people in all 7 counties in IL, 3 in IN & the WI county affected by this project. I join with the voices of all the residents in pleading for the denial of Great Lakes Basin Rail Transportation project. Thank you for your attention to these concerns. -- Elaine M. Bohl, 63 Maple Lane, Manteno 60950"
Submitted by: Elaine Bohl
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-25638 · back to the docket sheet