2 October 2008
Editorial: With DM&E Sale Approved, Focus on Mitigation
Rochester Minnesota USA - The inevitable happened on
Tuesday when the federal Surface Transportation Board gave its approval to the proposed sale of the DM&E rail line to Canadian
Pacific Railway.
It's unclear what the sale will mean to the city of Rochester and Mayo Clinic's decade-long effort to keep the DM&E
from hauling coal and expanding rail traffic through the city. But, for now at least, we have to assume the project is on. CP would not
have agreed to a purchase price that could hit $2.7 billion, with incentives, if it didn't believe the plan to haul
low-sulfur coal from Wyoming through South Dakota and southern Minnesota was viable.
CP officials have been mostly quiet on their plans for the line, especially as it pertains to Mayo and its concerns about safety.
The Rochester Coalition, a group of Mayo and other community leaders formed to oppose a plan to send more trains through the city at
higher speeds, held out little hope the Surface Transportation Board would kill the proposed sale to CP. But the coalition had thought
the federal regulatory board might at least impose strict safety controls proposed by Mayo. The board declined those requests. It also
rejected a request by the Minnesota Department of Transportation to require CP to upgrade crossings where ordered by the state.
The coalition is concerned not only about coal trains but also about a greater number of rail cars carrying such flammable and
potentially toxic cargo as ethanol and anhydrous ammonia through the city.
We share the coalition's concern. Although CP has one of the best rail safety records in North America (DM&E has one of the worst),
it stands to reason that with vastly increased rail traffic through our city, traveling at higher speeds, the potential for a
derailment and spill of toxic liquid or gas increases dramatically.
An example of this potential for disaster occurred in 2002 when a CP train derailed near Minot, N.D., spilling tens of thousands of
gallons of anhydrous ammonia. One person died from chemical burns, 15 people were hospitalized, 600 sought medical attention, and more
than 11,000 North Dakotans were evacuated from their homes.
So, we fully endorse the efforts by Mayo and the city of Rochester to protect its citizens from potential disaster. However, now that
the DM&E sale has been approved, there appears to be little chance the coalition can thwart the rail line improvement and extension
project altogether.
Unlike the DM&E, which negotiated a sale after a federal loan plan was quashed and was apparently unable to attract enough private
investment money to make the coal train project happen without the loan, Canadian Pacific has deep financial pockets. It seems only a
matter of time before it moves forward with the project to improve the DM&E line and extend it into the coal fields of Wyoming.
There's been renewed talk in recent months about a bypass of the line around Rochester. But rail officials have said in the past that
building a new line around the city would be cost prohibitive. In addition, a bypass would create a hornet's nest of environmental,
regulatory, and condemnation issues for Canadian Pacific that could delay the project for many years. All of these factors make the
odds of a bypass being built extremely long.
So, at this point the focus should be on mitigation. Mayo, the primary local player in the rail line issue, should work with CP
officials to make sure crossings are safe, reasonable traffic flow is maintained, and adequate safety measures are in place to protect
the public.
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