Federal Railroad Administration to Release DM&E Records

According to a letter sent by the Federal Railroad Administration to interested parties, the “FRA intends to disclose a substantial number of records from the 2003 RRIF loan application” as early as Friday. The records pertain to an application by the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern railroad for a $2.3 billion loan from the federal government to finance extending its line into the coal-rich Wyoming Powder River Basin. The FRA turned down the loan in February.

Release of the records is in response to the Freedom of Information Act request made by a team of lawyers on behalf of the Rochester Coalition and the Mayo Clinic in April 2006.

After nine months of FRA foot-dragging on the request, lawyers for the Coalition and the Mayo Clinic filed suit in February of this year asking a Washington, D.C., court to order the FRA to release the records. The loan was rejected less than a week later.

There was some question as to whether the FRA would divulge the records following rejection of the loan.

Though the FRA turned down the DM&E’s request for the $2.3 billion loan, it recently approved a $48.3 million loan for the railroad “to improve safety and service between Wall, South Dakota and Colony, Wyo. Rail line improvements will be made to accommodate heavier freight cars that haul grains, ethanol and minerals.”