Report supports rail merger concern

Wednesday, June 26, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

The Section on Environmental Analysis is part of the federal Surface Transportation Board, which is considering the $5.6 billion proposed merger.

In a report issued Monday, the SEA recommended that only a small increase in the number of trains be allowed while an 18-month environmental impact statement is conducted.

Mayor Jeff Griffin said the study gives more weight to Reno's concerns and will be used by City Manager Charles McNeely in negotiating sessions with the railroad over how to minimize the merger's impact on the city.

"It's a recognition of the extent of the impact by an entity affiliated with the STB," Griffin said Monday. "It's a very powerful tool in the negotiations."

The Surface Transportation Board is scheduled to begin deliberating the proposed merger on July 3.

City leaders fear the merger would double if not triple the number of freight trains passing through the city, creating traffic gridlock at downtown railroad crossings.

The city is trying to get the railroad to move its tracks away to the Interstate 80 corridor and away from the downtown casino core. The cost of that project is estimated at $600 million.

McNeely is scheduled to return to Omaha, Neb., on Friday for another negotiating session with railroad officials.

"What we are asking them to pay would pale in significance against what they would have to pay if there were an accident here," McNeely said. "It adds some credence to what we have been saying."

Earlier this year, the environmental analysis section down played pollution and safety concerns raised by city and state officials.

But the new report said Union Pacific's plan to run up to 38 trains daily through the city would pose a safety risk.