Comment EI-25994
Received or sent (printed as 4/30/2017)
Regarding the proposed railroad: I live just to the west of Rockford, IL, and have reviewed the website of Great Lakes Basin Railroad, and their proposal of a two track, minimum crossing rail route through Illinois. From that review of their information, I can find no public good large enough to warrant relinquishing any type of imminent domain to an unproven private enterprise. This ultimate power should remain with the elected officials responsible to the people of Illinois. I also live within less than one-quarter mile from a buried pressurized gasoline pipeline that feeds a gasoline storage and distribution center, alongside a propane distribution center on the SW side of Rockford. The proposed rail route goes very close to these two facilities, and crosses this pressurized pipeline very near my home. The pipeline belongs to West Shore Pipe Line. Any derailment of the proposed 60 mph trains - operating every 15 min, according to their website, jeopardizes the whole west side of Rockford, and nearby community of Winnebago, IL., should it puncture this pipeline or interact with the propane distribution center. This center has already had an incident causing local environmental damage. We do not need any more. There are also very serious concerns regarding the minimum crossing theory, as cutting off the many roads being crossed into Rockford denies quality emergency response times to our local hospitals, let alone some major inconveniences to services, already very low on the west side. I also live across the street from an open quarry, which serves as access to fresh water, and a stop-over for many migrating birds. The water table here is very shallow, and any incident on the surface has quick detrimental effects on our water supply, as we are rural, and all have wells. All of these are very real concerns, and since there is, in my opinion, certainly no overwhelming public good for this rail - just the opposite - there should be no action on this proposed rail line to move it forward. I sincerely hope the STB will listen to the people and organizations trying to make you aware of the severe repercussions of adding this rail line. Thank you for my opportunity to voice my concerns. Jeff Lathrop
Submitted by: Jeff Lathrop · Rockford, IL - 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-25994 · back to the docket sheet