(The following story by Erik Potter appeared on the Post-Tribune website on July 30.)
CHICAGO — Five Illinois members of Congress will hold an ad hoc hearing in Chicago on Tuesday to look into Canadian National’s proposed purchase of the EJ&E Railroad.
The hearing appears aimed at putting public pressure on the Surface Transportation Board, the federal agency charged with approving railroad purchases, to deal strictly with Canadian National.
The hearing comes in the wake of the transportation board’s release on Friday of a draft Environmental Impact Statement of the proposed purchase, a report that was criticized by suburban communities for not adequately protecting their interests.
If approved, the EJ&E sale would allow Canadian National to divert train traffic from its lines through the congested urban core of Chicago to the less congested EJ&E lines that loop around the city.
The hearing has been in the works for some time, according to a spokesman for Rep. Melissa Bean, D-Ill., and is not a direct response to the release of the draft environmental statement, though that report will likely be the focus of much attention.
Rep. Pete Vislcosky, D-Merrillville, an opponent of the proposed purchase, was invited to the hearing but is unable to attend. He plans to have a staff member read a statement in his place.
A transcript of the hearing will be submitted to the transportation board for its review.
Local officials from every level of government have come out in opposition to the proposed sale. Many are expressing concern over the thoroughness of the report, which seeks to spell out all of the environmental impacts the sale would have and what the transportation board would require Canadian National to do to minimize them.
Dan Gardner, deputy director of the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission, said he was looking for track improvements that would ease the safety and congestion burden that Griffith, Schererville, and to a lesser extent Gary, would face with the increased train traffic. “I don’t think (those) areas are adequately addressed at this point,” he said.
Griffith Town Council President Rick Ryfa said he was disappointed that the public had only 60 days to comment on the lengthy draft report, even though federal law requires only 45 days.
“I would have hoped it would have been closer to 120 days, or at least 90 days. Right now the towns and cities in Indiana are in budget season … we’re all up against the same thing. Now this is another thing we have to digest and put together very quickly,” Ryfa said.
Canadian National responded favorably to the report, which was released a month sooner than the transportation board had hinted that it would be.
However, CN criticized the draft environmental on several counts, including underestimating current rail traffic conditions.
“The (draft report) confirms our view that the environmental impacts of the transaction can be reasonably mitigated,” said Canadian National Chief Executive Officer E. Hunter Harrison. “CN stands ready to continue to negotiate with affected communities and reach voluntary mitigation agreements.”