Comment EI-34307
Received or sent (printed as 9/10/2026)
Docket No. FD 36873 To the Surface Transportation Board's Office of Environmental Analysis: I am writing as a resident of Forest Park, Georgia regarding the proposed purchase of Norfolk Southern Railway by Union Pacific Railroad. Drinking water risk: Clayton County Water Authority is already spending roughly $450 million over the next five years to remove PFAS ("forever chemicals") from our water. Federal testing has shown Clayton County's PFAS levels at approximately 500% above the EPA's minimum reporting threshold. More trains carrying hazardous materials through our community raises the risk of a spill adding new contamination to a system already stretched thin. I ask the Board to study how a derailment or hazardous spill could affect drinking water safety and cleanup costs here. Noise risk: Forest Park also faces a large proposed data center near Fort Gillem, which will run cooling equipment and generators around the clock. Forest Park sits immediately adjacent to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, so residents already deal with significant aircraft noise daily. Added train traffic means a third overlapping source of industrial noise. I ask the Board to study the combined noise impact of increased rail traffic, data center operations, and existing airport activity together, not each in isolation. General safety: More trains also means more delays, more hazardous carloads, and air quality and noise that could exceed the Board's own thresholds. Given these cumulative risks, I do not support this increase in rail traffic through Forest Park, and I ask the Board to either deny the application or impose enforceable conditions that meaningfully limit these impacts. Thank you for including these comments in the preliminary consultation process. Sincerely, Melissa Fennell Forest Park, GA
Submitted by: Melissa Fennell · FOREST PARK, GA
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-36873/comment/EI-34307
File docketyard.org/document/c3e92a616f5c6553ab2b4b5c532e51ecb44d7c2c61b4770701bb1aa16b432606.pdf · back to the docket sheet