By Erik Potter, Post-Tribune staff writer
The final environmental impact statement, which summarizes the environmental and community impacts of the sale and recommends steps to mitigate them, was the last piece of information the federal Surface Transportation Board needed before it could make its decision. The board can decide to approve the purchase, approve it with conditions, or deny it.
CN has been racing against the clock to get the sale approved before Jan. 1 because its purchase agreement with U.S. Steel, which owns the 198-mile EJ&E, expires at the end of the day on Dec. 31.
When that decision could come is isn't certain, however. The timeline set by the Transportation Board merely calls for a final decision to come "as soon as possible" after the final environmental report is issued.
The report recommends little big-ticket mitigation measures for Northwest Indiana, which will see a three-fold increase in traffic on the EJ&E. Though the Transportation Board, in its final decision, could decide to impose greater measures than those recommended in the report, it appears unlikely that Griffith or Schererville will get the train overpasses they were hoping for.
Dyer signed its own mitigation agreement with CN on Wednesday, which, among other things, would upgrade the EJ&E/CSX intersection so that trains no longer block U.S. 30 west of Calumet Avenue, and upgrade the EJ&E's road intersections to silent crossings.
Schererville is getting close to reaching an agreement with CN, and talks are also advancing in Griffith. How those talks will be affected by the release of Friday's report remains to be seen.
CN Vice President Karen Phillips said the the company will continue to negotiate with local communities. "The (transportation) board has always made it clear that they place a lot of value and a lot of weight on discussions between the community and (CN)," Phillips said.
Local communities hope talks won't bog down now that the mandatory minimum measures in the final impact statement have been laid out.
"Our position is pretty much the same as it was before: We're still opposed to (the sale), but we owe it to our citizens to stay in touch with Canadian National and see if we can mitigate this thing," Griffith Councilman Stan Dobosz said.
As with the draft version of the report, Friday's final impact statement was met with a chorus of boos from notables such as Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Merrillville. "(The report) pays lip service to the thousands of comments" submitted by residents, Visclosky said in a written statement. "It does not make CN pay for its fair share of the mitigation costs, nor does it meet the needs of Northwest Indiana."
A coalition of communities along the EJ&E line that has opposed the sale called it a "rubber stamp for CN to increase its bottom line at the expense of taxpayers."
The report recommends CN take the following actions in Northwest Indiana:
Install closed-caption television cameras at all EJ&E railroad crossings in Griffith and at Kennedy Avenue in Schererville so local fire departments can monitor when trains are blocking road crossings.
Pay for 15 percent of the cost of a grade-separation where the EJ&E crosses U.S. 30 in Lynwood, Ill., just east of Dyer. Traffic at that crossing frequently backs up into Dyer and can affect access to Saint Margaret Mercy Hospital.
Study the effectiveness of the warning systems at the Lake Street and Miller Street crossings in Griffith.
Monitor the effects on the Karner blue butterfly in and around west Gary.
Install culverts or pipes for rare turtles to cross the EJ&E tracks between Leithton, Ill., and Gary.
Comply with the preliminary memorandum of understanding to move the EJ&E tracks at the Gary/Chicago International Airport, making room for the airport's runway expansion.
Provide quarterly reports to communities on the number of train-caused traffic delays of 10 minutes or more and what it's doing to reduce them.
Provide the railroad's emergency response plans to local and state agencies within six months.