(The following story by Mark Sommerhauser appeared on the Winona Daily News website on September 4.)
WINONA, Minn. — Be they coal cars, ethanol cars or any other rail cars, it’s the total — not the type — that matters to Winona Mayor Jerry Miller.
As federal officials prepared to issue a ruling later this month that could approve a proposal by Canadian Pacific Railways to acquire the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad Corp., Miller hopes the ruling will outline ways to protect Winona residents from the increased rail traffic that some say would result from the acquisition.
Analysts and Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., have said the Surface Transportation Board likely will approve the merger, which could provide the financial backing for a long-discussed proposal to ship coal east from Wyoming and possibly through Winona.
To date, the board’s environmental rulings on the merger have focused on the DM&E plan, which would ship coal from Wyoming’s Powder River Basin through Minnesota and possibly over the CP line that bisects Winona. In a preliminary ruling issued in December, the board said it likely won’t study the impact of increased traffic on the DM&E or CP lines until the Powder River Basin plan moves ahead, since neither company is certain when or if the project will be completed. Canadian Pacific officials also have told the board that the merger wouldn’t significantly increase traffic on the CP or DM&E lines in the next five years.
But a Rochester, Minn., group that includes the Mayo Clinic says completion of the Powder River Basin plan isn’t the only effort that could increase train traffic and pose safety hazards to cities on those lines — including Winona, Rochester, St. Charles, Lewiston, Stockton and Minnesota City.
In July, Canadian Pacific officials disclosed that by 2009 or 2010 the company may ship up to 6,355 carloads of ethanol from Owatonna, Minn., through Rochester and Winona en route to Chicago. In ethanol, “you’ve got a commodity that could come through that is potentially much more dangerous,” said Richard Streeter, an attorney for the Mayo Clinic.
As a result, Miller says the board’s upcoming merger ruling should examine the impact of any major increases in train traffic through Winona — not just of trains from the Powder River Basin.
“As traffic increases, we should be talking,” Miller said.
Miller hopes the STB ruling will order Canadian Pacific officials to negotiate with Winona leaders on how to lessen the effect of increased train traffic through the city, possibly by building sound walls, rail overpasses or underpasses, or vibration-proofing homes near the line. The Mayo Clinic has sought STB orders for similar measures in Rochester as a condition of the merger, though the board thus far has indicated it will study the measures only if the Powder River Basin plan goes forward.
For Winona, the discussion rekindles concerns sparked in the 1990s, when a local citizens’ group organized to oppose the initial announcement of the Powder River Basin plan.
In 2001, while the board was studying potential environmental impacts of that plan, Winona asked the board to order Canadian Pacific to pay for more than $28 million in projects to lessen the effect of increased coal-train traffic from the Powder River Basin.
The board rejected the request, saying Winona couldn’t be part of the discussion because it isn’t located on the actual DM&E line. Now — with Canadian Pacific set to acquire the DM&E — Winona leaders hope circumstances have changed.
Winona’s 2001 request asked for new sound barriers and fences along the line, three grade-separation crossings at Pelzer and Louisa streets and in central Winona, pedestrian and bike overpasses for Winona State University students, and vibration-proofing for the 217 structures in Winona within 200 feet of the line. Since then, the city completed a rail overpass at Pelzer Street and WSU has announced plans to build pedestrian underpasses near its campus.
But also since 2001, WSU built dorms on Franklin Street and announced plans for more dorms on Huff Street — placing far more Winona citizens near the CP line, Miller said.
Miller stressed that the merger isn’t necessarily a negative for Winona, noting that it could result in new opportunities for businesses on Winona’s port. He is optimistic that Canadian Pacific will be more willing to negotiate with local leaders than DM&E officials were.
“Hopefully (the proposed negotiations aren’t) an adversarial thing,” Miller said. “Hopefully, it’s amicable.”