WASHINGTON — CSX and CPKC’s proposed acquisition of Genesee & Wyoming short line Meridian & Bigbee will have no significant environmental impacts, federal regulators said in a draft environmental assessment released today.
The Class I railroads aim to link their systems — and create a new through route connecting the Southeast with Texas and Mexico — via a new interchange at Myrtlewood, Ala., on the Meridian & Bigbee.
The Surface Transportation Board’s Office of Environmental Analysis draft report says the transaction’s only minimal impact would be increased noise at a 32 homes and a church along the route between Meridian, Miss., and Burkeville, Ala., which is 10 miles west of Montgomery.
The noise impacts could be mitigated through railroad-funded installation of sound insulation, the report says. The draft report recommends that the STB order four mitigation measures to reduce noise-related impacts.
The transaction would have no impact on grade crossing delays, energy use, air quality and climate change, vibration, or environmental justice, according to the draft environmental assessment.
Comments on the draft report are due by April 17.
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