Barrington Continues the Fight Against the EJ&E Sale

From TRAC's website today:

BARRINGTON FILES LEGAL CHALLENGES TO STOP CN RAILROAD PURCHASE

Impacted Communities Say Decision is Premature and Ignores Serious Safety and Environmental Concerns

(BARRINGTON, IL) January 5, 2009- The Village of Barrington today filed an appeal of the Surface Transportation Board's decision approving Canadian National's takeover of the EJ&E. The appeal was filed with the United States Court Of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Barrington also filed a stay of petition with the Surface Transportation Board in an attempt to prevent the transaction from closing during the Court's review of the appeal.

Barrington officials charge that the STB acted improperly when approved the highly controversial takeover. The stay petition notes that the STB did not take into account numerous problems previously identified by opponents to the transaction during the environmental impact statement process.

"We have filed direct legal challenges to the STB and through the federal courts in an attempt to delay further action by Canadian National until this acquisition is examined more thoroughly. We believe that the decision is wrong and is short sighted in examining serious concerns raised by thousand of residents, transportation experts and elected leaders," said Karen Darch, Barrington Village President and spokesperson For Barrington Communities Against CN Rail Congestion.

According to the stay of petition filed with the STB, the draft and final versions of the Environmental Impact Statement which were adopted as part of the Board's Christmas Eve-issued decision contained numerous violations of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

Specifically, Barrington officials say the STB failed to analyze all reasonable alternatives to the transaction and the reasonably foreseeable effects of additional track construction on the lines to be acquired and the increased volume of other railroad current and future freight traffic on certain railroad lines in Chicago.

Darch said that the regulations set forth under the NEPA law require that the STB must consider potential beneficial or adverse environmental effects of any rail merger before making a decision and that the STB failed to meet its obligations under the law.

Since CN announced its intention to purchase the EJ&E railroad in 2007, dozens of communities from Illinois and Indiana, transportation planning groups, and elected leaders in Washington have raise serious concerns about the short and long term implications this purchase would cause.

The Village of Barrington is a member of Barrington Communities Against CN Rail Congestion and The Regional Answer to Canadian National (TRAC) which represent dozens of communities in Illinois and Indiana. This bipartisan coalition was organized out of concern that significant issues related to public safety, environment, traffic gridlock, emergency response times and economic losses were not being adequately dealt with by Canadian National Railway (CN).

To review copies of both legal filings, visit www.fightrailcongestion.com. Both are found under the documents tab -- the stay petition in "STB-related Documents" and the federal court appeal in the section on "Litigation and Legal Matters."