City Council requests Traffic Studies on City Streets near Union Pacific Rail Line
By: Jose G. Landa, Copyright 2015, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc.
The Eagle Pass City Council unanimously approved to authorize City Manager Gloria Barrientos to begin the process of conducting traffic studies in and around an area within the vicinity of the 700 Quarry Street Union Pacific Rail Road-owned real property, formerly the site of Eagle Lumber Yard or Alamo Lumber, as part of negotiations to acquire the property at their special meeting held on Tuesday, June 23, 2015.
The City Council went into Executive Session to consult with legal counsel to discuss the purchase, exchange, lease or value of real property offered by Union Pacific Rail Road under Sections 551.071 & 551.072 of Chapter 551, Texas Government Code.
Upon returning into Open Session, the City Council unanimously approved that City Manager Gloria Barrientos to order traffic studies on several properties in and around 700 Quarry Street near the Union Pacific-owned property.
The City of Eagle Pass has previously expressed interest in acquiring the several acres property for the possibility of a City-owned Center for the Arts or other public use.
Eagle Pass Mayor Ramsey English Cantu recently attended an economic development conference in Omaha, Nebraska sponsored by Union Pacific Rail Road. Mayor Cantu noted to news media that several topics were discussed at this conference, including the acquisition of this property at the intersection of Ceylon & Quarry Streets as well as the heavy railroad traffic and blockage of city street intersections.
During recent years, Eagle Passans have complained about the heavy railroad traffic and street blockage caused by Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Sante Fe Railroads trains. Eagle Passans have also complained about the toxic and hazardous chemicals which are being transported through the middle of town into Mexico and vice-versa, posing a significant public health and environmental risk to local citizens.
According to the Maverick County Appraisal District, the property in question is appraised at $645,000.
During the late 1990s, there was a Union Pacific Rail Road train with chemical rail cars which released certain dangerous and toxic chemicals near the Eagle Pass Rail Road Bridge at the U.S.-Mexico Port of Entry causing many citizens and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officers to be exposed to these chemicals, resulting in a multi-million dollar settlement between Union Pacific Rail Road and the affected parties.
The Union Pacific Rail Road line runs right through the middle of Eagle Pass, traversing many residential subdivisions and public schools such as Seco Mines Elementary, Liberty Elementary, Glass Elementary, Kennedy Hall, DAEP School, Benavides Heights Elementary, and Robert E. Lee Elementary to name a few. Local federal inspectors and City of Eagle Pass Fire Department are aware of the toxic and hazardous chemicals being transported through the densely populated areas of Eagle Pass and the dangers posed to tens of thousands of local citizens and visitors in the event of a chemical leak or rail road accident. However, local citizens are totally unaware of the exact toxic and hazardous chemicals being transported through the Union Pacific Rail Road line. One local emergency services officer, which requested anonymity, stated that the City of Eagle Pass and community are not prepared to handle a major rail road toxic or hazardous chemical spill or accident should one ever occur in Eagle Pass.
Recently, Union Pacific representatives stated at a public meeting in Brackettville,Texas that Union Pacific is running between 1,200 to 1,500 rail road cars per day through the Port of Eagle Pass, approximately 350,000 plus railroad cars per year as of 2013. These figures are estimated to increase significantly in the immediate future as Union Pacific has built double rail lines in Eagle Pass and currently constructing the same in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico. Union Pacific is building the largest rail car washing facility in the United States in Spofford, Texas at an approximate cost of $45 Million and this facility should be operational in October of 2015 to wash over 300 railcars per day used in this growing U.S.-Mexico rail trade through the Eagle Pass Port of Entry.
Several years ago, Mexico and Union Pacific decided to make Nava, Coahuila, Mexico, approximately 11 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border at Eagle Pass, Texas and PIedras Negras, Coahuila as the principal railroad yard and port of entry between the U.S.-Mexico border.
In addition, Constellation Brands is investing $2 Billion to expand the Cerveceria Modelo Brewery Plant in Nava, Coahuila, Mexico from producing between 25-30 Million hectoliters of beer for export to the U.S. market. All of this beer will be exported through Union Pacific at the Eagle Pass Port of Entry, almost tripling the amount of traffic in future years.
Also the Dos Republicas Coal Partnership open surface coal mine known as the Eagle Pass Mine proposes to ship the coal from the mine site in Eagle Pass to Mexico through a daily train of 150 railroad cars loaded with coal and coal dust and related-chemicals blowing through the air into the community.
Since the City Council discussed this agenda item in Executive Session, the local citizens do not know what exactly was said, discussed, and by whom in Executive Session except that the City wishes to acquire this Union Pacific-owned property but it is unknown at what cost to taxpayers and the potential risk of harm to citizens residing or visiting the densely populated areas in and around the Union Pacific Rail Road line.
