Environmental group says Amtrak project impact assessment was ‘rushed’
(The Center Square) – Federal authorities have said a proposed Amtrak maintenance facility project has the environmental all clear a little over a week after conceding to local opposition over the perceived impacts of the project locally. The new facility would be built on an existing 2-mile-long railyard owned, but decreasingly used, by Union Pacific.The stretch of rail infrastructure in Bridgeport, near the Sox’s current home of Rate Field, also runs adjacent to the Chinatown and Armour Square neighborhoods. The project has been granted $659 million by the Federal Railroad Administration and more than $125 million from future White Sox owner Justin Ishbia through Canal Edge, his firm poised to develop a new White Sox stadium on the site of Amtrak’s active railyard. Hannah Dembosky, founder and co-lead of activist group Bridgeport Environmentalist, told The Center Square that the Amtrak-conducted environmental assessment wasn’t what opponents were asking for. “We were worried that this was going to happen in a very rushed opaque manner and unfortunately, with the release of these documents coming around 10 or so days right after the announcement that they were going to do the environmental assessment, that is basically what we're seeing,” Dembosky said. The assessment
