(The Associated Press distributed the following article on October 23.)
HURON, S.D. — Kevin Schieffer, president of Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad, said he is reserving judgment on a federal appeals court ruling asking the Surface Transportation Board to take a second look at the company’s $2 billion expansion project.
Schieffer said if the list of requirements is a short one, ”there won’t be any problem.”
But, ”if the list is a long one, then we might have a problem,” he said Tuesday.
The DM&E wants to extend its line to the Powder River Basin coal fields in Wyoming and run coal eastward on trains across South Dakota and Minnesota. The project would involve building about 280 miles of new track and upgrading 600 miles of existing track.
Earlier this month, a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the board’s approval of the project because of concerns over some issues.
Schieffer said until the STB irons out the issues outlined by the court, ”it’s hard to react to the ruling. My gut sense is that it should not be a big issue.”
Concerns the judges want the STB to study further are the combined effect of noise and vibration in houses near the tracks in Rochester, Minn., how to protect endangered historical sites, and possible future pollution caused by the increased availability of Powder River Basin coal that would be burned in power plants in the Midwest and Northeast.
Schieffer said he has no idea when the court might decide that all issues have been addressed.
Unless there are major changes, he doesn’t expect the ruling to hold up the expansion project. Based on a best case scenario, construction could begin in 2005, he said.
He said the emphasis now is on financing.
”We are spending a lot of time on it and we’re talking to some people in Washington, D.C., and New York,” he said.
Schieffer was in Huron Tuesday to tour the DM&E facilities and meet with workers.
Under the proposed expansion plan, the company would build a $100 million operations center at Huron that would employ about 500. The complex would be about a quarter mile wide and stretch for four or five miles west of Huron.
”Huron will be the major crew change point, the major refueling stop, maintenance point and car repair facility,” he said.