Comment EI-26675
Received or sent (printed as 9/3/2019)
Docket No. FD 36284 Attention Josh Wayland, My name is Melissa Peck and my husband & I have been in the Indian Canyon area since 1996. We are on our third Generation there. We Oppose the Uinta Basin Railway for many reasons, which I will go into in a min. We Specifically Oppose the Indian Canyon Route and the Wells Draw Route because of the location and the terrain. There has been 4 other studies done on this Canyon area in the past 18 years and they have all come back denied because of Steepness, too rugged of terrain and too costly. 3 of these studies by the same people that have just done this one, so what's changed? I suspect the amount of money put in to insure the Current Study Passes. Also Jones & DeMille Engineering, Who are doing the Engineering on the UBR. have never done a railway project before and have dramatically underestimated the project, quoting the Price City Mayor, Jones & DeMille are the Last Engineers I would hire, they totally messed up our ball park, its a real mess!" the drainage has never been right and still floods several times a year. Also Mike McKee, (former CIB board member) who is heading up this project, also headed up another large scale project, building a highway across the basin into Grand county which was never completed, the project was under estimated and ran out of money to finish it so Grand county pulled out and to this day, there is still a deserted highway in the basin that stops in the middle of nowhere, just ends! where over $150,000,000 dollars were waisted. I know they are underestimating this project as well. It will cost more money to go through Indian Canyon & Wells Draw with massive tunnels & numerous trestles including one massive one, than it will to go to Craig Colorado by the time its finished (if it gets finished). Indian Canyon and the Argyle Canyon areas have many environmental issues. There is Coal & Methane Gas pockets all over that area, there are Nat. gas pumps all over as well. our neighbor hit two gas pockets while drilling his well. There is a major fault line that runs through there where the rail line is going, the ground shifts constantly around there, there is areas where the State can't stabilize highway 191 they have to just keep fixing it and its been that way since before we were there. so the State has posted it a slide area. (I will try to download pictures) .There are several dead end box canyons in there. If a spark from a train starts a fire, there will be people that wont be able to get out. We seem to have more drought years anymore than good water years so Springs are extremely important up there and they can change, sometimes they disappear and a new one will pop up somewhere else, I think that is due to the shifting ground but we that have springs or wells baby them and are very protective of them. The animals will be displaced. just since this May we have had a cougar, bobcat, bears, deer and Elk on our camera on our driveway, we know we also have fox, Sage & Forest grouse, weasels, Squirrels Etc.. and have even seen wolf tracks in the winter. and even a buffalo one year! This is a very unique Canyon. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints holds group Sunday Services there because there are so many people up there that go. They also have many acres there for Girls camp & Scout camp where the youth can experience the peace and quiet of the mountains and unplug and become closer to nature. All these things I have mentioned will be effected in a very negative way by the Uinta Basin railroad coming through. not to mention the mountain its self, to reach the ground elevation coming out of the tunnel on the South end they will have to carve out over 30' down and who knows how far across that will make it just to reach the Massive Trestle to cross over the lower Canyon and will ruin the little waterfall. Pluss the huge Const. staging areas will also destroy the trees and natural beauty that Duchesne County doesn't have much of. From there it will run along the fault line then zig-zag down and wipe out several privately owned properties that have been there for some over four generations. all this for Oil Companies who aren't putting in a dime for this rail line. The other merchants & businesses will not be using it. They SCIC doesn't have a single business willing to commit to using it other than the Oil Companies and there are no contracts there either. the public will not benefit from this rail line. they will however experience Higher Pollution Levels, more local Truck traffic coming & going from the rail hub, from the result of increased production, which also means more water usage and the basin is a desert which experiences water shortages in the summer months. Experts have determined there's about Eighty six Billion Barrels of Oil in the Basin, If that is the Case, the Basin will be out of oil in 5-7 years if they up production from the 80+ thousand barrels per day to the 250-350 thousand barrels per day like they say they will. That is before the rail line will even be paid off!!! not to mention what does that leave for our posterity? and what does pumping that much oil out so fast do to the geological aspect of the Basin? could it cause shifting or earthquakes? We believe this to be a bad thing for the Basin in the long run and an absolutely devastating thing to Indian Canyon & Argyle Canyon and all its inhabitants there in. If by chance this rail line is approved and there are repercussions from it like we know there will be. who will be held responsible for them, the STB, the CIB or the SCIC? I believe they will all be at fault, but we the citizens will be the ones effected, hurt or worse. When hazardous materials are spilled, leaked or ignited. Who will be held responsible? are Hazardous materials even allowed to go through tunnels this size? I have also heard that there are no machines in the US. that are capable of drilling that size/length of a tunnel and machines will have to be brought in from another country to actually do it. Who's responsible if it hits a methane pocket and sparks a rock and blows the whole mountain like an accident that happened several years ago? This has the potential to be a very dangerous and risky project, I sure wouldn't want to be involved. I really hope and pray that the STB really weighs the risks, the negative effects and permanent damage verses the benefits to a select few, and makes the right decision for all. If & when there are repercussions, it will be too late to go back and change your mind. Thank you for your time. Melissa Peck"
Submitted by: Melissa Peck · Indian Canyon Property Owner/ Argyle Wilderness Preservation Alliance · LEHI, UT
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.
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