Comment EI-32311
Received or sent (printed as 9/26/2022)
The Applicants apparently provided information suggesting that the proposed acquisition would “potentially” support a shift away from the transportation of flammable crude oil (a hazardous material). Transporting flammable crude oil implicates the environment (spillage) as well as safety should a derailment produced spill and fire occur. If this acquisition is permitted railway transportation of hazardous materials such as crude oil will heavily increase. Should this increase cause a derailment-produced spill and fire in any area, or even worse in a major urban area, the damage and casualties will be tremendous. That the proposed acquisition would “potentially” support a shift away from the transportation of flammable crude oil does not rise to the level of certainty required to prevent these potential dangers. Weighing the benefit of this acquisition (financial gain for the rich) against its potential harms (oil spills, fires, traffic incidents, job losses, property damage, etc.) the balance clearly favors denying this proposed acquisition. Looking to the past, it is evident that oil spills cause significant and seerious damage to the environment, the economy, and to human health. Oil spills are not contained to the immediate spill site and often spread into adjacent waterways (ex. Lac-Mégantic rail disaster where derailment caused fires and explosions, killed 47 people, destroyed more than thirty buildings, and oil from the disaster traveled from the derailment site in the village ultimately reaching the river). Guess who a major player in the aforementioned disaster was, Canadian Pacific Railway.
Submitted by: Davin Illikal · Not Provided, MO
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-32311 · back to the docket sheet