Sunday, July 27, 2014

... waiting to happen


[UPDATE - now there are only TEN tickets left! Buy yours here: www.tugg.com/go/ivv2kj. Also, see Army COE contact info below.]


Please read Alan Stankevitz's excellent letter to the editor in Sunday's La Crosse Tribune. If you have been reading this blog or Alan's great DOT111 Reader, you know that millions of gallons of volatile Bakken crude oil pass through our city and many others every day. Every day, an accident waiting to happen. Not just an accident, but, potentially, a disaster.

Local communities and state and federal legislators have requested an Army Corps of Engineers public meeting about BNSF plans to construct a second rail line through La Crosse, including adding lots of fill and possibly pilings in part of the marsh. Alan urges us to "press the Army Corps of Engineers for this meeting." Contact:  David Studenski, phone 651 290-5902, email david.a.studenski@uwace.army.mil or write to him at 1114 South Oak Street, La Crescent, MN  55947.

In the meantime, the comprehensive Railroad Progress Report, recently published by CARS (Citizens Acting for Rail Safety), is a great way to find out what's happening on this issue in our area and find links to contact elected leaders and other officials.

New, tepid, oil train regulations have recently been  introduced by the Obama Administration, regulations that many say don't go nearly far enough. Will they help La Crosse? Well, no. Even though the new regs proposed reduced speeds through cities with populations of 100,000 or more or high threat urban areas. La Crosse does not meet either of these criteria, so trains are free to barrel through, past our homes, schools, and businesses, at dangerously high speeds.

The new rules will open for public comment once published in the Federal Register at www.regulations.gov.  Please read up on this issue and be prepared to submit comments when you can.

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Update on CITIZEN KOCH tickets for the La Crosse screening on Thursday, August 7 at 6:30 p.m. at the Marcus Cinema, 2032 Ward Avenue, La Crosse:

I just learned that there are only 14 tickets left!! We ARE going to sell this out! Yes!!

Remember tickets are available ONLINE ONLY from www.tugg.com/go/ivv2kj. Your ticket purchase will also get you a live post-film Q&A session with Mike McCabe, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign AND a discount on a full priced beverage or spin of the wheel at the Bodega Brew Pub!




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