Canadian National Railway taken to task at congressional hearing

BY KEITH BENMAN, Times of Northwest Indiana
kbenman@nwitimes.com

CHICAGO | U.S. congressional representatives listened intently Tuesday as Northwest Indiana officials told them communities will suffer if Canadian National Railway's purchase of the EJ&E Railway becomes reality.

Gridlock in towns, air quality, the South Shore extension and development at Gary/Chicago International Airport all were brought to the attention of four Illinois congressional representatives and a staff member for U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Ind.

"American taxpayers should not be forced to pay for the private business interests of any corporation, but especially an $8 billion foreign corporation," Schererville Town Councilman Tom Schmitt told the hearing panel.

Schmitt, seated at a long wooden table in a federal courtroom in the Dirksen Federal Building, said Congress needs to act immediately to head off a move that will gridlock communities with increased rail traffic.

The hearing was called after the release two weeks ago of a draft environmental impact statement by the federal Surface Transportation Board. Congressional representatives accused the board of conducting a "backward" process that considers effects on railroads but gives short shrift to effect on communities.

Congressional representatives conducting the hearing were U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean, D-Ill.; U.S. Rep. Don Manzullo, R-Ill.; U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert, R-Ill.; and U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, D-Ill.

Visclosky staffer Joe Vooght read a statement from the congressman blasting the proposed deal and the Surface Transportation Board, declaring the draft environmental impact statement "sorely lacking in detail and real relief for the citizens on the EJ&E line."

Visclosky and the Illinois congressional representatives are all pushing legislation introduced in the U.S. House last week that would force the Surface Transportation Board to take better stock of the transaction's effect on local communities.

Montreal-based Canadian National in a prepared statement said those conducting Tuesday's hearing had yet to acknowledge the deal's significant public benefits. Those include a reduction in rail traffic in many communities and particularly in Chicago.

Under its proposal, Canadian National would reroute trains currently running into Chicago onto the EJ&E, which runs through suburban Chicago and Northwest Indiana.

In September, Canadian National entered into an agreement with U.S. Steel Corp. to buy the EJ&E for $300 million. That deal is contingent on Surface Transportation Board approval.

Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission Executive Director John Swanson testified the draft environmental impact statement failed to make clear Northwest Indiana is a nonattainment area for ozone pollution and particulate matter.

He also challenged the draft environmental impact statement's assertion that the South Shore extension is not a "reasonably foreseeable" project. He pointed out it is the subject of a federally funded study and the Indiana General Assembly has considered appropriating funds.