(The Associated Press circulated the following article by Joshua A. Freed on April 15.)
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Five opponents of the Dakota Minnesota & Eastern Railroad expansion went to court Friday, hoping to stop a project that already has the approval of rail regulators.
The court action comes after the city of Rochester, Minn., a key opponent of the plan, rejected a written offer the DM&E made late Thursday. The DM&E was offering more safety improvements than the federal Surface Transportation Board is likely to require, DM&E President and CEO Kevin Schieffer said.
The federal board has approved DM&E’s plan to build 280 miles of new track in Wyoming and upgrade its tracks across South Dakota and southern Minnesota. A federal judge ordered the board to reconsider some aspects of its approval of the project, which would ship coal from Wyoming to the Mississippi River, but the board reaffirmed its decision.
Rochester, the Mayo Clinic and Olmsted County each filed court documents they characterized as appeals of that board decision. The South Dakota chapter of the Sierra Club and the Mid States Coalition for Progress filed similar court documents, which they characterized as lawsuits. All were filed with the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
“They are lawsuits designed to kill the project,” Schieffer said.
The Sierra Club and Mid States Coalition want a federal judge to order the board to evaluate the environmental impact of the coal the DM&E would ship, said Sam Clauson, the South Dakota chapter’s conservation chairman.
The railroad has made deals with nearly all of the cities along the route, promising mitigation for things such as horn noise and vibration. But Rochester has held out, saying the trains would disrupt traffic and put hospital patients at risk.
Rochester City Attorney Terry Adkins said the city rejected the DM&E offer because it did not include a bypass around the city.
Schieffer has adamantly refused to consider a bypass, saying that would just dump the issue onto residents outside the city. He said his written offer Thursday night included more mitigation than the board is likely to require.
The offer was made after Rochester officials flew to Sioux Falls, S.D., on Thursday to meet with Schieffer.
Schieffer has said the offer is not going to improve.
“We promised those who worked with us right away six and seven years ago that they’d get the best deal, and there’s no way I’m going to go back on that commitment to them,” Schieffer said.
He and Adkins both declined to release a copy of the offer.
The Rochester coalition that includes the city, county and Mayo Clinic said they would drop their court actions if they can make a deal with the railroad. But they said there were up against a deadline to file their appeal.
“We must do whatever is necessary to protect Rochester from what we consider to be a serious threat to public safety and the future economic vitality of Minnesota’s third-largest city,” Rochester Mayor Ardell Brede said in a prepared statement.
Schieffer said he has made agreements with 55 of the 56 cities on the line.
“We don’t need to have agreements with all 56,” he said. “We’d certainly like to, but I’ve kind of gotten to the point where, if they’re serious we’ll have an agreement, if they’re not, we’re not going to continue to be led around by the nose indefinitely.”