Comment EI-32171
Received or sent (printed as 9/14/2022)
This project for profit of CP rail, will put the safety, welfare, and environment of over 300,000 people in at least ten municipalities west of Chicago. The proposed added freight traffic of 14+ trains up to over two miles long will endanger public safety by blocking grade level crossings making emergency services unable to reach those in need in a timely fashion. It will cause more accidents, both vehicle and pedestrian deaths. The idea that it will only create an average wait time of a few seconds, as suggested by CP, is ludicrous. We are people, not averages, and we all know how long we can be delayed by long freight trains, and it sure isn't a few seconds. The average is meaningless if you're the one delayed for a half an hour, unable to get around it, just as a 90% cancer survival rate is meaningless if you are in the 10%. As it is a known fact that requests for quiet zones are ignored, noise pollution (and of course air, also) is a serious problem, even without the additional traffic proposed. In the event of a derailment a densely populated area will be at risk of a hazmat situation, and danger to our health. A derailment near the Fox River in Elgin will likely destroy the water supply of Elgin and all the downriver communities. A lesser but still important issue is the disruption of beautiful music at Hemmens Auditorium by train whistles. The Elgin Symphony Orchestra has for years tolerated the ruin of delicate moments in music which is created only after hours and days of work, but could be laughed off. The additional frequency proposed will ruin many beautiful works of art.
Submitted by: DEBRA R FREEDLAND · Roselle, IL
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-36500/comment/EI-32171 · back to the docket sheet