Comment EI-25977
Received or sent (printed as 5/1/2017)
I am writing in opposition of the Great Lakes Basin Railroad and its stakeholders' proposal to run a stretch of railway from Milton, Wisconsin through northern Illinois and into northern Indiana. The negative impacts of this railway proposal far outweigh the few benefits, and the few benefits mostly benefit private investors not the masses affected by the railway. My concerns are great and lengthy, and I believe Dave Willis identified a lot of the negative impacts in his article in the Rockford Register Star (http://www.rrstar.com/opinion/20170407/my-view-rail-project-would-be-destructiv e-disruptive). Some of my concerns not identified in Dave's article are as follows: The railway will pass through a lot of rural areas in turn resulting in road closures, road blocks and ultimately delays in receiving medical attention to thousands of people. These rural communities are primarily farming communities, and farming is a hazardous job with many yearly accidents for which emergency medical attention is needed. The last railway proposal route I seen was locating the railway between Rockford, Illinois and Winnebago, Illinois, which would isolate the rural area to the west of Rockford and delaying our access to the nearest three major hospitals located in Rockford. How could this be considered a feasible option and proposal, when it is clearly not for the greater good of all or even the majority? There are many small, family owned and operated farms in the rural communities, who will be affected should the proposal get approved. Families will lose land, lose access to land, lose the ability to use the land for the purpose in which it was intended; ultimately resulting in loss of income, loss of homes, loss of family farms, and added financial liability for the States and Federal Government. Is the State and Federal Governments ok with the privatized gain resulting in extensive financial burdens for them? When rain water and snow melt does not drain or recede corrrectly due to the railway obstruction of the natural drainage, who is going to pay for the damaged homes, crops, etc.? There is a good chance insurance companies will not pay for the flooded homes and destroyed personal items, when the owners do not have flood insurance. Who is going to pay for the homeowners' flood insurance or relocation? I am also concerned with the impacts this railway will have on our environment, plants, wildlife, waterways, etc. There are a lot of endangered and threatened plants and wildlife that live and migrate through the areas that will be affected by this railway. No matter how hard one tries no one can ever recreate existing habitats, so once destroyed they will be lost and there is a good chance there will also be species of animals and plants also lost. If you have not taken the time to research the areas for which the railway is proposed to destroy, please do so as soon as possible (e.g. Sand Bluff Bird Observatory, Nygren Wetland Preserve, Sugar River Forest Preserve, Winnebago County Forest Preserves). I am asking you to please reject and vote against the Great Lakes Basin Railway proposal to run a railway for Milton, Wisconsin through northern Illinois and into northern Indiana. Thank you, Mary MacKenzie
Submitted by: Mary MacKenzie · Winnebago, 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-25977 · back to the docket sheet