(CN issued the following on March 4, 2009.)
CHICAGO — CN announced today an agreement with the City of West Chicago, Ill., addressing the municipality’s concerns with CN’s acquisition of the principal lines of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway Company (EJ&E). CN completed its EJ&E acquisition on Jan. 31, 2009.
Under the agreement, CN will assist in the creation and maintenance of quiet zones, install safety fencing, implement noise mitigation, provide emergency response personnel training and emergency communication improvements, and address specific transportation issues unique to the community.
Gordon Trafton, CN senior vice-president, Southern Region, said: “We are pleased to have reached another voluntary mitigation agreement as we continue our comprehensive outreach program with communities affected by our EJ&E acquisition.
“Our community liaison officer has communicated directly with all 33 communities affected by the purchase and is engaged in a series of outreach meetings with them to describe in detail the multi-year phase of our acquisition. With the communities that have signed mitigation agreements with CN, our initial priority has been pursuing mechanisms for the installation of quiet zones, and we will then progress to implementation of other aspects of the agreements.
“In addition, we have invited two representatives of each of the 33 communities to attend a one-week training program for railroad hazardous material training at a rail industry center in Pueblo, Colo., at CN’s expense.
“CN is committed to working with all communities affected by our transaction, and we will give them advance notice of our plans to start diverting freight traffic onto the EJ&E in the near future through our ongoing sign and media campaign.”
In addition to West Chicago, CN has signed voluntary mitigation agreements with the Illinois communities of Mokena, Frankfort, Hoffman Estates, Mundelein, Crest Hill, Chicago Heights and Joliet. CN has similar pacts with Griffith, Dyer and Schererville, Ind.
Under its comprehensive voluntary mitigation plan and agreements with 11 communities, CN has committed to mitigation that it expects will cost it more than $60 million, an amount that, together with the $21 million in costs paid to the Surface Transportation Board’s (STB) environmental consultant, represents more than 25 per cent of the $300 million acquisition price for the EJ&E. This is in addition to the $100 million that CN plans to spend for infrastructure improvements along the EJ&E and the added costs of other STB-imposed mitigation.