February 20, 2017
For immediate release
Old Lyme, Conn. – The final environmental study of the proposed Northeast Corridor rail project inadequately analyzes the risk to at least four federally endangered or threatened fish and birds in Connecticut. As a result, the study fails to assess the true impact the rail line would have on southeastern Connecticut and the Connecticut River Estuary.
In a four-page letter to the Federal Railroad Administration, the Connecticut Audubon Society noted that in the year between the release of the draft environmental review and the final environmental review, in December 2016, the FRA revised the rail proposal to include a tunnel under the Connecticut River and Old Lyme.
Read the Connecticut Audubon Society’s letter to the Federal Railroad Administration
The Connecticut section of the rail line is part of a proposal for $120 billion in rail improvements from Washington D.C. to Boston.
The final environmental review fails to take a hard look at the tunnel proposal and instead raises new and substantial questions.
The letter, signed by Connecticut Audubon Executive Director Nelson North, states: “It is impossible to say with certainty what will be affected. What we can say is that the Connecticut River Estuary and the supporting environments all constitute one of the richest, and biologically diverse environments in North America for flora and fauna and mankind.”
