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NCJ reports eviromental groups, and county of marin joining in lawsuit against NCRA
Author: Mitsy Bitsko
Date: 11-28-2007 - 11:17
Reading some of the strings in this discussion board, I walk away with the following impressions:
1) railroaders don't care about whether the NCRA follows the law.
2) railroaders don't care about the history of the NCRA polluting the Eel River.
3) railroaders don't care that state taxpayers are subsidizing robber barrons that serves little public purpose.
4) railroaders don't seem to care about the interlocking economic relationships between the Island Mtn quarry operation and the freight operator. (Look at the make-up of the Board of Directors of the NWP Co.)
As a new reader to this discussion board, trying to understand this issue, it seems awfully coincidental that Skip Berg is on the Board of NWP Co., the very guy that got $20 million earmarked in federal legislation for a yet to be planned ferry terminal at Port Sonoma. I also find it odd that the head of Evergreen Natural Resources is on the Board. This is the same entity filing for a permit to mine Island Mountain. I haven't come to a conclusion, but this sure seems more about a quarry than restarting freight service to Eureka.
I also don't understand railroaders and whether they care about environmental impacts because on the one hand many (not all) of the railroaders claim freight should be restarted because it's good for the environment. And, then, when the connections to the quarry operation are pointed out they completely deny the impacts on the Eel River.
Either way, it appears that the NCRA has stepped over the line and the battle has changed. Marin County joining the lawsuit sends a signal. They're not going to take this lying down and they have the resources to create quite a stink. I expect this legal battle will last another 12 months, because as soon as the NCRA finalizes their incredibly stupid EIR, they'll be sued again. Defining rail service as trains operating south of Willits defies logic and the NCRA's record. Marin and Sonoma's environmental communities are not buying into this. That's the message.
1) railroaders don't care about whether the NCRA follows the law.
2) railroaders don't care about the history of the NCRA polluting the Eel River.
3) railroaders don't care that state taxpayers are subsidizing robber barrons that serves little public purpose.
4) railroaders don't seem to care about the interlocking economic relationships between the Island Mtn quarry operation and the freight operator. (Look at the make-up of the Board of Directors of the NWP Co.)
As a new reader to this discussion board, trying to understand this issue, it seems awfully coincidental that Skip Berg is on the Board of NWP Co., the very guy that got $20 million earmarked in federal legislation for a yet to be planned ferry terminal at Port Sonoma. I also find it odd that the head of Evergreen Natural Resources is on the Board. This is the same entity filing for a permit to mine Island Mountain. I haven't come to a conclusion, but this sure seems more about a quarry than restarting freight service to Eureka.
I also don't understand railroaders and whether they care about environmental impacts because on the one hand many (not all) of the railroaders claim freight should be restarted because it's good for the environment. And, then, when the connections to the quarry operation are pointed out they completely deny the impacts on the Eel River.
Either way, it appears that the NCRA has stepped over the line and the battle has changed. Marin County joining the lawsuit sends a signal. They're not going to take this lying down and they have the resources to create quite a stink. I expect this legal battle will last another 12 months, because as soon as the NCRA finalizes their incredibly stupid EIR, they'll be sued again. Defining rail service as trains operating south of Willits defies logic and the NCRA's record. Marin and Sonoma's environmental communities are not buying into this. That's the message.
