STB extends Tongue River coal rail comment period again amid local pushback

摘要

The U.S. Surface Transportation Board has extended the commentrnperiod a second time for the proposed Tongue River Railroad inrnMontana as local groups and citizens, including members of thernCheyenne Nation, sound the alarm over the project’s potentialrncultural and environmental impacts.rnThe STB is taking comment on a draft environmental impactrnstatement for the project until Sept. 23, past a prior deadline of Aug.rn24 and an original cutoff of June 23. The draft EIS, which the STBrnreleased April 17, explored 11 alternatives for the railroad, includingrna no-action option. The Tongue River Railroad Co. Inc.’s preferredrnoption includes developing a $388 million, 42-mile rail line thatrnwould run between Colstrip, Mont., and the Ashland/Otter Creekrnareas in the southeastern part of the state. The line will initially servernArch Coal Inc.’s proposed 20 million-ton-per-year Otter Creek mine.