People in three states have banded together behind a legal motion asking the Surface Transportation Board to adopt a "no-build alternative" for Great Lakes Basin Transportation's 278-mile freight line proposal, which would run from Milton, Wis., to LaPorte County.
"This is not a necessity. It doesn't need to be," said Kathleen Honl, a representative with Residents Against the Invasion of Land by Eminent Domain (RAILED) in Porter County.
The motion was filed Thursday with the STB by Chicago attorney Thomas McFarland. The STB held meetings on the proposed freight line in the spring, and accepted comments through Friday for an environmental impact statement that will determine if the project moves forward.
The groups represented in the motion are Block GLB Railroad, LaSalle County, Ill.; Kankakee, Ill., Block GLB; Citizens Against the GLB Railroad, Boone County, Ill.; ROCK Against the Rail, Rock County, Wis.; and RAILED of LaPorte, Porter and Lake counties.
The motion asks that the STB find the proposed rail line "inconsistent with the public convenience and necessity," and goes on to note several reasons why that is reportedly the case, including public safety concerns for first responders and farmers, and minimal transportation benefits because of Chicago's CREATE transportation plan and a lack of support from Class 1 railroads.
"It's a culmination of everything we've heard from the public. It's everything the public is fighting against," Honl said.
Mike Blaszak, an attorney for GLBT, declined to comment on the motion, other than to say officials for the proposed freight line were reviewing submissions to the STB as they came in against Friday's deadline.
"We are going to review and study in due course and respond to the STB," he said.
McFarland also declined to comment.
GLBT's proposal is for an $8 billion, privately funded freight line that would serve as a bypass for Chicago's congested rail yard and take trucks off the road. The line would have the capacity for up to 110 trains a day, though manager and founding partner Frank Patton has said the number of trains would less than that.
The proposal has generated what one official with the STB has called an unprecedented response, and officials twice extended the deadline for public comment. The freight train line, the largest new rail line in recent times, generated more than 3,500 submissions to the STB more than a week before Friday's deadline.
The motion also asks that GLBT be required to file a formal application for construction and operation.
"The filing of a formal application for construction and operation has become standard procedure where a rail line would be lengthy and complex, and where there would be significant public opposition," the motion states.