Comment EI-25966
Received or sent (printed as 4/28/2017)
April 28, 2017 To: The Surface Transportation Board Docket # FD35952 395 E Street, SW Washington, D.C. 20423-0001 From: Mrs. Margaret Bain 11853 Bethel Road, Kings IL 61068 Dear Mr. Ken Blodgett, I am writing to you to convey my concerns and opposition to the proposed Great Lakes Basin Transportation, LLC Railroad (GLBT) project. My husband, John, and I live and farm approximately 1 mile west of the currently proposed route, in rural Ogle County, Kings IL. We are the 3rd generation of this family farm, with plans to pass this on to grandchildren making it the 5th, and so on. Upon studying information concerning GLBT I feel this railroad would certainly devastate the farmland involved and rural life in many ways. We have a series of waterways that were professionally installed in a partnership program with the government over 40 years ago. Our farm takes on a great deal of water from surrounding farms that are on a higher elevation than ours. Management and maintenance of the drainage system is very costly. (nearly $1,000 an hour in some cases.) There is no doubt drainage systems downstream of ours will be damaged, most are interconnected. Some of this damage may never be corrected. This would cause complete loss of ability to farm substantial portions of land from backwater buildup on our land as well as others. I understand one mile of rail with a 200 feet right of way is aprox. 24 acres per mile and the proposed GLBT project will be taking aprox. 6,305 acres total. This includes of some of the best farmland in the world, it will be permanently destroyed. I have read it is possible the GLBT project will include other “utilities” along the same line. The noise of 110 trains running day and night at 70 miles per hour will destroy every bit of solitude that is cherished by those all who live nearby. The value of surrounding homes and land will plummet. The potential hazards of the proposed GLBT project are staggering! I am deeply concerned about the closing of many rural roads to allow the trains to travel without stopping. Also, the delays created by the additional railroad crossings. Two years ago, April 9th, 2015, a tornado tore through this area from the southwest. It traveled directly across Bethel Road (exactly over some of the path of the proposed GLBT railroad) and moved north, with much devastation. We were declared a disaster area for some time. Many rural roads in this area were closed from the tornado damage, some for days. Had that train system been in place and the roads closed, many people very well could have been trapped, with no access to emergency assistance! ******* I read a letter submitted to you on 3/30/2017 by Douglas E. Wood, Kings Consolidated School District 144 Transportation/Maintenance/Safety Director. It helped me understand the hazards associated with building the rail within 1/4 mile of the School District, as well as other factors: “If the GBLT is allowed to build their track according to their current plan it would pass within a quarter of a mile of the School District and at 60-100 trains (approx. 1 train every 20 minutes) a day using this track would become a 24/7 issue in the safety and well being of our students and staff in the event of a chemical or other toxin that could be released by an accident or a derailment. If such an accident would happen it would also affect the response time to the emergency, it would affect the school and the Ogle County’s Emergency Command Center. It will affect the response of the Fire Station which is 6 miles away but instead of taking 15 minutes to respond it could 15 minutes to 30 minutes or longer. The same would hold true of the Ogle County Sheriff Office and its response time. But these 3 government bodies would also find it hard to respond to any emergency here at the school with the projected route and road closures that the GBLT has chosen. The safety of the students at this school or any other District should be paramount to any decision made to allow the GBLT to build its Toll Railroad.” “The staff and the little over 100 residents who live in Kings of which I am one of these residents also have to consider the effects the GBLT would have on us and quality of life. We feel that this is a Private firm trying to make money off the residents of Kings and the surrounding areas. The GBLT would not bring a great influx of money for the Kings area but it would just add to the burden by taking high quality farm land out of production as well as burden these same farmers to pay their bills with the loss of acreage and access to farm land that the GBLT would pass through leaving access limited or nonexistent.” (end of Mr. Wood’s statement) ******* Derailment of toxic chemicals could cause evacuations and possible contamination of the water supply to thousands. Many people believe the trains will be carrying a great deal of crude oil, and each rail car contains 30,000 gallons. A derailment usually involves many more than one ruptured car. “Cleanup” is done by letting the oil burn, creating highly toxic fumes. Also ground and ground water contamination that will last for many years. If chlorine gas is transported and is involved in a derailment, evacuations of 5 to six miles are required. *************** Mr. Frank Patton, the founder of GLBT has said the railroad would provide economic benefits across the region, and says landowners will be fairly compensated. Farmers and landowners will be paid $20,000 per acre. (and free electricity to some houses near the railroad) But the effects of the GLBT railroad will go far beyond each farmer or landowner who is paid. How can you fairly compensate people for completely destroying all that is sacred to them? Most who will be drastically affected will not be compensated at all. I can not even fathom hearing trains go by at 70 mph every 15 or 20 minutes, and we certainly will hear it! The chemicals used to kill vegetation along the tracks will seep into the ground water. NO amount of money is worth the loss of peoples lives or permanent destruction of the land. Rail congestion in Chicago has prompted the plan by the PRIVATE FIRM, GLBT, while stating the average time to send a freight train through the city sat at over 30 hours. The claim has been disputed, and community groups pointed to the implementation of the Chicago Integrated Rail Operations Center (CIROC) in 2015. The plan includes direct connections to each carrier and track to assist rail employees in resolving operational issues and identifying congestion points. Recent data showed the time required for a unit train to pass through the Chicago Rail Terminal has declined from 20 hours to less than 15 hours. Also, the CREATE program has provided and continues to provide many of the transportation benefits claimed by the GLBT proposal. I believe funding for these programs should be focused on. Mr. Patton has stated he would like to leave a legacy to his descendants by creating this monstrosity. Apparently he has done this with no thought or consideration to the hundreds and perhaps thousands of people whose legacy is destroyed by this Private Firm building a Toll Railroad for profit. I urge you to please take a stand now and oppose the GLBT Railroad Project with NO BUILD! Respectfully Submitted: Mrs. Margaret Bain
Submitted by: Margaret Bain · Kings, Illinois
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-25966 · back to the docket sheet