(The Associated Press circulated the following article on May 24.)
WASHINGTON — Two weeks after Sen. Mark Dayton challenged Sen. Norm Coleman and Rep. Gil Gutknecht to take a more active role in opposing the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad, the three lawmakers joined forces in urging the Bush administration to give the project a thorough review.
In a letter sent to Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta Thursday, the trio and two other Minnesota lawmakers said they had “serious concerns” about the railroad’s $2.5 billion government loan application pending with the Federal Railroad Administration. The railroad wants to rebuild its 600 miles of track through South Dakota and Minnesota and build 280 miles of new line into Wyoming so it can ship coal from the Powder River Basin in northeast Wyoming.
“The proposed $2.5 billion loan represents a major investment on behalf of the taxpayers,” said the letter, signed by Minnesota Republicans Gutknecht, Coleman, Rep. Mark Kennedy and Rep. John Kline, and Dayton, D-Minn.
“It is essential that you ensure that this loan can be repaid in full. We respectfully urge you to review this loan with the scrutiny that such a large commitment deserves.”
The lawmakers cited a report funded by the Rochester Coalition, which questioned the railroad’s ability to pay back the loan. The coalition, which includes the city of Rochester and the famed Mayo Clinic, has objected to the expansion because it would mean more trains running through the city and close to the clinic.
DM&E quickly rejected that study, and earlier this week, all three members of South Dakota’s congressional delegation wrote to the Federal Railroad Administration challenging the objectivity of the study.