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Re: NOVATO ADVANCE Time for Supervisor Arnold to help agriculture by backing freight trains
Author: Barry
Date: 05-13-2008 - 17:34
Willits girl,
That's not how it happened. The NWP Co. Business plan wasn't
available until Oct-06. There was little funding for the NCRA
until Nov-06. And, at the beginning, people believed the NCRA
when they said they were only going to provide service south
of Willits with a few trains a week. In part, this was because
of SMART's FEIR which had a large discusion on this
very subject. They reduced the number of freight trains evaluated
based on conversations with Mitch Stogner. It's available on
SMART's website.
It wasn't until Feb. 2007 when the NCRA upped their operational
plan, forcing SMART to do a supplemental and getting numerous
folks to read what the NCRA was saying in Eureka when all hell broke
out.
The surprise was when Novato sued. It was a bold move and it will likely
force the NCRA to perform an EIR on the entire project. This is something
they don't have the money for and don't want to do, because it will
disclose far more environmental impacts than they are planning to
disclose in their current, limited, piece-meal, illegal EIR focussed
only on operations south of Willits (or Windsor depending on whom
you speak to.) Remember, the NCRA decided not to do an EIR on the track repair.
That is, in part, the basis for the Novato lawsuit.
I know many readers of this forum think the track repair involves no
environmental impacts. The judges preliminary ruling and the issuance
of the TRO indicates otherwise.
That's not how it happened. The NWP Co. Business plan wasn't
available until Oct-06. There was little funding for the NCRA
until Nov-06. And, at the beginning, people believed the NCRA
when they said they were only going to provide service south
of Willits with a few trains a week. In part, this was because
of SMART's FEIR which had a large discusion on this
very subject. They reduced the number of freight trains evaluated
based on conversations with Mitch Stogner. It's available on
SMART's website.
It wasn't until Feb. 2007 when the NCRA upped their operational
plan, forcing SMART to do a supplemental and getting numerous
folks to read what the NCRA was saying in Eureka when all hell broke
out.
The surprise was when Novato sued. It was a bold move and it will likely
force the NCRA to perform an EIR on the entire project. This is something
they don't have the money for and don't want to do, because it will
disclose far more environmental impacts than they are planning to
disclose in their current, limited, piece-meal, illegal EIR focussed
only on operations south of Willits (or Windsor depending on whom
you speak to.) Remember, the NCRA decided not to do an EIR on the track repair.
That is, in part, the basis for the Novato lawsuit.
I know many readers of this forum think the track repair involves no
environmental impacts. The judges preliminary ruling and the issuance
of the TRO indicates otherwise.
