(The following article by Kate Turnbow was posted on the Pierre Capital Journal website on October 3.)
PIERRE, S.D. — Both the Rochester Coalition and the Dakota, Minnesota, and Eastern Railroad are pushing propaganda for their causes before the Oct. 10 deadline for public comment on the possible loan the DM&E may receive from the Federal Railroad Administration for $2.3 million to upgrade its track.
But it doesn’t stop there.
Even Monday’s weekly meeting of the Pierre/Fort Pierre Rotary Club featured a guest speaker who gave a presentation on his personal research regarding the DM&E project.
Mike Pulaski, administrator of Medical Associates Clinic in Pierre and concerned local citizen, opened his presentation, entitled, “Are we getting Railroaded by DM&E,” by asking, “How many are for the DM&E project? Don’t be afraid.”
Six audience members raised their hands.
When asked who would be for the project with a bypass around Pierre, every audience member raised their hand. Pulaski followed with a skit that included lines such as, “Huh, I can’t hear you now, wait ’till the train passes.”
Among Pulaski’s many arguments were his thoughts on the DM&E’s inability to repay the debt service on the $2.3 million loan.
He said that while the coal shipping business is a low-profit margin business to begin with, there’s also a good chance there will be a decrease in demand for coal from the Powder River Basin, which DM&E plans to haul if it receives the FRA loan.
Pulaski, who moved to Pierre approximately one year ago, said that even with the DM&E’s own revenue projections for the project, the company will not be able to repay the loan. Sources for these statements were not confirmed.
Kevin Schieffer, president of DM&E, responded rather harshly to Pulaski’s comments.
“In my perspective, he is reading very clearly off of script from the opposition at the Mayo Clinic. It really boils down to whether or not you believe what Rochester opponents are putting out,” Schieffer said. “Federal authorities have all the facts and I’m very confident that our case is a strong one and that most of the claims by opponents have already been discredited. We are not terribly concerned about them being anything but non-credible statements.”
Schieffer would not disclose any financial information on the railroad’s revenue projections for the Powder River Basin project, saying it is not public information because a lot of the financial data contains sensitive competitive information.
“The coal-market argument has been regurgitated for the last eight years, and its nonsensical. It’s like Alice in Wonderland. If that’s their view of the world, that’s their view. If you say black is white enough times someone may actually believe it,” said Schieffer.
Jafar Karim, spokesperson for DM&E, reiterated that the FRA has access to the company’s complete financial information and that the FRA takes the responsibility of assessing that data very seriously.
“Taxpayers will be protected with this loan, and the FRA will do its due diligence,” said Karim. “And if we don’t repay the loan, we lose our assets, we lose the company.”
Karim said the FRA has provided similar loans to Burlington Northern and Union Pacific railroads.
“So there is precedence for the loan,” Karim said.