CHICAGO — CN said it has reached a voluntary mitigation agreement (VMA) with the Village of Barrington Hills, Ill., located approximately 40 miles northwest of Chicago, addressing the municipality’s environmental and safety concerns with CN’s acquisition of the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway Company (EJ&E).
With this agreement, CN has VMAs with 22 of the 33 communities situated on the EJ&E in Illinois and Indiana.
CN, which completed its purchase of the EJ&E on Jan. 31, 2009, will provide funding for various measures in Barrington Hills, including maintenance of an existing quiet zone, operations mitigation, emergency response training, and safety initiatives.
Jim Vena, CN senior vice-president, Southern Region, said: “We are very pleased to have reached this mitigation agreement with Barrington Hills for our EJ&E acquisition. CN is going the extra mile to reach out to communities along the “J”, and we’re encouraged that so many of them have worked with us productively to develop mutually satisfactory solutions to environmental and safety issues that may be posed by the transaction. We intend to continue to communicate closely with all communities on the EJ&E in the months and years ahead as CN fully integrates the line into its network.”
CN is also working closely with communities along the EJ&E that do not yet have agreements with CN to ensure implementation of safety and environmental conditions in accordance with the requirements of the Surface Transportation Board.
Integration of the CN and EJ&E networks is well underway, and, as contemplated in the original plan, the Company continues to expect it will be completed within three years of its acquisition of control.
