Opposing interests battle over the DM&E
by Leigh Pomeroy
Pro- and anti-DM&E expansion groups met in Byron, MN, and Pierre, SD, this week to once more air their arguments. The pro-expansion Byron meeting was hosted by the Olmsted County Farm Bureau, the Minnesota Association of Cooperatives, the Minnesota Farmers Union and the Southeast Minnesota Ag Alliance, and featured speakers from these groups plus the Minnesota Association of Cooperatives, Dairyland Power, McNeilus Steel, the ethanol industry and the Minnesota Farm Bureau. All spoke about the need for improved rail service.
The anti-coal train Pierre meeting, sponsored by the Track the Truth coalition, featured speakers from the Minnesota Taxpayers League, the Committee for a Safer Brookings and the Mayo Clinic. They called into question the DM&E's safety record, its questionable ability to pay back the proposed $2.3 billion loan under consideration by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), and its apparent lack of regard for local interests.
While opponents were not specifically invited to the two respective meetings, Congressman-elect Tim Walz spoke at the Byron meeting about the need for a common solution agreeable to both sides.
Rumors abound about when the FRA will reach its decision on the loan and what that decision will be. Meanwhile, the Surface Transportation Board (STB) is being pressured by anti-expansion and environmental groups, as well as the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railroad, to require an Environmental Impact Review (EIR) on the effects of coal train traffic over the I&M Rail Link (IMRL) acquired by the DM&E in 2003. As of this date, no EIR has been required for DM&E coal train traffic over the IMRL.
If the FRA approves the entirety of the $2.3 billion loan to the DM&E, which some Washington insiders say is remote, opponents to the expansion have vowed to continue fighting it. On the other hand, an FRA rejection of the loan virtually guarantees the end to the DM&E's plan to expand into Wyoming's coal-rich Powder River Basin.
Yet a third option may be that the FRA will approve a smaller loan to help the DM&E upgrade its current routes and improve service to its existing markets.
Whatever the outcome, Congress is certain to look at the proposed expansion and loan once it reconvenes in January.
Pro- and anti-DM&E expansion groups met in Byron, MN, and Pierre, SD, this week to once more air their arguments. The pro-expansion Byron meeting was hosted by the Olmsted County Farm Bureau, the Minnesota Association of Cooperatives, the Minnesota Farmers Union and the Southeast Minnesota Ag Alliance, and featured speakers from these groups plus the Minnesota Association of Cooperatives, Dairyland Power, McNeilus Steel, the ethanol industry and the Minnesota Farm Bureau. All spoke about the need for improved rail service.
The anti-coal train Pierre meeting, sponsored by the Track the Truth coalition, featured speakers from the Minnesota Taxpayers League, the Committee for a Safer Brookings and the Mayo Clinic. They called into question the DM&E's safety record, its questionable ability to pay back the proposed $2.3 billion loan under consideration by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), and its apparent lack of regard for local interests.
While opponents were not specifically invited to the two respective meetings, Congressman-elect Tim Walz spoke at the Byron meeting about the need for a common solution agreeable to both sides.
Rumors abound about when the FRA will reach its decision on the loan and what that decision will be. Meanwhile, the Surface Transportation Board (STB) is being pressured by anti-expansion and environmental groups, as well as the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railroad, to require an Environmental Impact Review (EIR) on the effects of coal train traffic over the I&M Rail Link (IMRL) acquired by the DM&E in 2003. As of this date, no EIR has been required for DM&E coal train traffic over the IMRL.
If the FRA approves the entirety of the $2.3 billion loan to the DM&E, which some Washington insiders say is remote, opponents to the expansion have vowed to continue fighting it. On the other hand, an FRA rejection of the loan virtually guarantees the end to the DM&E's plan to expand into Wyoming's coal-rich Powder River Basin.
Yet a third option may be that the FRA will approve a smaller loan to help the DM&E upgrade its current routes and improve service to its existing markets.
Whatever the outcome, Congress is certain to look at the proposed expansion and loan once it reconvenes in January.
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