June 2016
Great Lakes Basin Rail: News and Views
© 2016 BreitLinks
www.breitlinks.com
Photo Credit: R.A.I.L.E.D., Source: www.blockGLBrailroad.com, Used under “Fair Use Doctrine”
Will a new refinery
built specifically to
process Bakken
crude oil be placed
on the 15,000 acres
GLBT misleadingly
claims are needed
for a rail yard?
Does this map explain the REAL reason to build GLBT RR?
The picture above represents typical land that GLBT wants to condemn via
federal eminent domain laws. In the distance is Kishwaukee Road. The proposed
tracks will cross this road just to the left of the white farm and then extend North
through the woods towards the Rock River, perhaps a ½ mile away. The topography slopes down to the river. There will be serious environmental impacts, because the rail line will dramatically change drainage patterns.
Kishwaukee Road is two lanes and is a main route for many Ogle County commuters traveling to Rockford and surrounding areas for their jobs. During morning
and afternoon rushes, there are thousands of vehicles making the commute. It is
also one of the fastest routes for emergency responders making fire calls or transporting sick/injured people to Rockford hospitals.
GLBT managing partner Frank Patten refuses to document any real need for
this railroad other than vague generalizations about Chicago through-traffic. Despite failing to demonstrate a reason to build, he was granted a wavier of a legally
mandated 6-month notification period and Surface Transportation Board is unjustly
and unfairly proceeding with Phase 1 environmental impact studies.
Page 9
In 2015, plans to build a 510,000 barrels per day pipeline to transport oil
out of the Bakken in Western North Dakota to the Gulf of Mexico were
canceled. Bakken crude no longer moves primarily to the Gulf. Given
the expense, opposition, and unstable nature of crude prices; there is no
need for a massive pipeline that cannot flexibly direct different volumes of
Bakken crude to different markets based on who will pay the highest
price. It is not a coincidence that the current promoters of GLBT stepped
into the limelight that year, talking about a new railroad. So who is really
behind GLBT? This project is about a new rail corridor for Bakken and
Alberta crude, not current rail traffic that moves through Chicago.
Hardisty crude oil rail terminal
connects to Canadian Pacific
Railroad's high-capacity North
Main Line. This route runs
east to Minneapolis. CPR has
a route down the Mississippi
River which connects to GLBT
south of Rockford, Illinois.
As the Canadian Pacific Railroad route map on page 8 demonstrates, GLBT serves as a replacement for the Keystone XL pipeline
and explains why CPR is trying to buy out CSX or Norfolk Southern,
but Koch Industries benefits greatly too.