DME Wins In Appeals Court

12/29/2006

A DM&E Railroad line expansion that could bring many mile-long trains through Rochester each day has cleared a major legal hurdle.


By Paul Gustafson,
Star Tribune
Last update: December 28, 2006 – 9:59 PM


A federal appeals court Thursday rejected environmental challenges to a controversial rail line in southern Minnesota, dealing a setback to efforts to stop the line's expansion through Rochester.


The Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected opponents' claims that the federal Surface Transportation Board did not properly consider a rail line that would go through Owatonna, Minn., and skirt Rochester as an alternative to the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern (DM&E) Railroad's plan to run through the city near the Mayo Clinic.


The three-judge appeals panel also rejected arguments that the federal transportation board should have ordered more requirements, such as sound barriers, to reduce train noise in Rochester.


DM&E President Kevin Schieffer said Thursday that he was pleased with the court's decision. While the railroad's plan has drawn fierce opposition from Rochester interests, he said, it has the support of farmers, agricultural businesses and small communities that would benefit from improved rail service.


The Rochester Coalition -- a group of rail-line opponents that includes the city, Olmsted County and the Mayo Clinic -- said in a statement Thursday that they are reviewing the Appeals Court decision and evaluating their legal options.


"The DM&E rail expansion poses a very real and serious threat to the city of Rochester and Mayo Clinic," the group said.


"We remain firmly committed to doing everything possible to protect the people of Rochester and the many thousands of patients who visit our community to seek care at Mayo Clinic."


The coalition contends that the rail project could send as many as 34 mile-long trains each day through Rochester, carrying coal and possibly hazardous materials a few hundred yards from the Mayo Clinic and other health facilities.


Chris Gade, a spokesman for Mayo and the coalition, said that the court decision was only one in a series of approvals needed for the proposal to go forward.


The railroad's $2 billion plan to build 260 miles of new track and upgrade another 600 miles of track to haul coal east from mining fields in Wyoming's Powder River Basin still depends on a $2.3 billion federal loan request that is awaiting a decision by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters.


A path through the courts


In 2003, a federal appellate court panel reversed the Surface Transportation Board's approval of the plan and ordered it to reconsider whether measures were needed to mitigate noise from train horns. The court also said that the board must consider whether the new line would cause adverse environmental effects through increased coal consumption.


After that ruling, the federal board approved the DM&E plan a second time without adding any major new environmental requirements.


In its decision Thursday, the Appeals Court panel ruled in favor of the federal board's handling of the noise issue. It rejected arguments that the board should have required DM&E to pay an estimated $2.5 million for safety measures at Rochester railroad crossings that would permit creation of quiet zones in the city.


The Appeals Court said the board did not act arbitrarily when it decided that it didn't have to consider DM&E acquisition of a rail line through Owatonna as an alternative to the tracks that would go through Rochester.


The court noted that the Rochester line is 150 miles shorter than the Owatonna line for moving coal to plants in Wisconsin.


The Owatonna line was not at issue in the 2003 ruling, since it was not then an option.


Finally, the court on Thursday also rejected a claim by the Sierra Club that the board did not adequately examine the environmental impact of the rail line because of the increased use of coal that it is expected to create.