Submission Number: UBR-DEIS-00451-0170 

Received: 1/27/2021 12:00:00 AM
Commenter: Jacqueline Allen
Organization: 
State: Colorado

Agency: STB
Initiative: Uinta Basin Railway EIS
Attachments: No Attachments
Submission Text
As a steward of this Earth and a Colorado resident, I urge you to choose the no-action alternative for the proposed Uinta Basin Railway. The proposed railway would do irreparable harm to our region's air, water, land and wildlife and should not be built. There is not a profit in the world worth the price of our clean resources that are vital for all life everywhere. The environmental impact statement is supposed to assess the harm this oil railway could have on the environment, wildlife and nearby communities and this draft fails to accurately do so. In addition to the stark environmental consequences both in the Uinta Basin and in Colorado, the project could mean reopening a rail line through scenic Tennessee Pass, despoiling scenic lands and wildlife habitat to get oil trains to the Gulf Coast. Mile-long oil trains could rip through sensitive areas like Browns Canyon, a rugged 22,000-acre national monument designated in 2015 to protect one of the wildest stretches of the Arkansas River. The company proposing the Uinta Basin Railway is the parent company of the one attempting to open the Tennessee Pass Rail Line in Colorado. At first glance, it may seem they are entirely unrelated projects which is what they're hoping for to sidestep initial warranted scrutiny. If either railway is allowed to operate, they will join forces as they have always intended to and all impacted ecosystems will suffer indefinitely. The Uinta Basin Railway would harm people who live and recreate in both states. Landowners in Utah's Argyle Canyon and nearby off-grid canyon communities fear the disruptive noise, traffic delays, and clouds of diesel smoke oil trains will bring along the proposed routes - not to mention the significant potential for accidents, derailments, spills and even sparks that could ignite disastrous wildfires. And we in Colorado won't escape the air pollution drifting downwind from Uinta Basin, even as the railway rips through our national monument and other scenic areas supporting our vital outdoor tourism our local economies depend on. Ultimately, this project is an unacceptable threat to the health, safety and well-being of wildlife, humans and the planet. Please choose the protection of our vital resources over their blatant pollution, please support our local economies of clean outdoor tourism, please choose the no-action alternative.