The Porter County Council on Tuesday joined a growing number of governmental bodies taking a stand against a proposed freight train line that would slice through southern Lake and Porter counties.
County Council President Dan Whitten, D-at large, said Great Lakes Basin Transportation's proposed route would be "ripping through the southern part of Porter County" without offering any economic benefit.
The council voted unanimously to support a resolution against the rail project, citing drainage and safety concerns and "significant permanent negative impacts" to the county.
GLBT proposes a 278-mile freight train track, starting near Milton, Wis., and with two end points in LaPorte County, with the goal of alleviating rail congestion in Chicago. The $8 billion, privately funded track would have the capacity for 110 trains a day and its path would run through southern Lake and Porter counties.
Frank Patton, founder and managing partner in GLBT, has said the route is being laid out to avoid densely populated areas, will be an economic boon for the region, and those impacted by the project will be fairly compensated.
"This will be the largest U.S. rail project in the last 125 years and a big chunk of that money is going to be spent in Northwest Indiana, a very large portion of it," Patton has said about the privately funded project.
He also has said he was "disappointed and saddened" by the growing number of communities against the project who are "not interested in hearing the other point of view."
County officials attended some of the meetings held by the federal Surface Transportation Board about the project earlier this month, Whitten said, adding he and Councilman Jim Biggs, R-1st, put together the resolution opposing the project.
"There really is a glaring lack of any benefit to the county and certainly the potential of disastrous cost to the county and some of its residents," Whitten said.
Among his many concerns with the proposal, Biggs said the right of a private investor to use eminent domain to acquire land for the project was "wrong."
The noise generated by passing trains also would be a disruption for nearby schools, said Councilwoman Sylvia Graham, D-at large, adding that the Morgan Township schools are a quarter-mile from the proposed route.
"The noise factor would be of great harm to children learning," she said. "I'm very much opposed to this."
The potential downsides of the freight line outweighed any possible benefits, said Councilwoman Karen Conover, R-3rd.
"In the beginning I thought, 'What is all the problem with this? It sounds exciting,'" she said. "But I've done some due diligence and even if it's not affecting everybody, it is a matter of public safety."
In recent weeks, the Porter and Lake County commissioners, as well as the Hebron Town Council, have passed similar resolutions against GLBT's proposal, citing drainage and safety matters, among other issues.