Copyright © 2001 NLThomas
All Rights Reserved

Anyone concerned about the 30,000 people of the Pine Ridge Reservation and the Sacred Black Hills needs to speak and also write letters because;

1. The DM&E Railroad plans to build a new railroad line around the northwest corner of the Pine Ridge Reservation. This is a violation of the Fort Laramie Treaties of 1851 and 1868.

2. The Black Hills Sioux Nation Treaty Council and the OST Council has already passed a resolution opposing the building of this railorad line but have been ignored.

3. Air pollutants created by surface mining of coal in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming is carried by the wind and is causing increased air pollution in the Black Hills and the Pine Ridge Reservation.

4. Air pollutants created by surface mining of coal in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming could cause acid rain in the Black Hills and the Pine Ridge Reservation.

5. The DM&E with it's many trains will cause increased air pollution of coal dust, diesel fumes, and exhaust on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

6. The DM&E Railroad with its many trains will increase the chance of fires on the northwestern portion of the reservation and in Red Shirt Village.

7. The land on which the DM&E Railroad track is to be built contains historic massacre sites.

8. The DM&E Railroad track and its trains will stop the migratory path of the prong-horn antelope back to their winter home in the Black Hills.

9. The land that the DM&E railroad track is to be built on is shale which is very unstable and causes landslides among other things.

10. A question that has not been answered is: what will be carried in the empty rail cars on their return trip to Wyoming? ( in the DEIS report, it is mentioned that training must be taken by those who have employment with that railroad for hazardous waste materials.)

Send Your Letters To:

Office of the Secretary Case Control Unit
Attention: Victoria Rutson
STB Finance Docket TO. 33407
Surface Transportation Board
1925 K Street NW
Washington, DC 20423-0001