advertisement

---

Surface Transportation Board Jan. 23 approved Illinois Central Railroad Co.’s plan to construct and operate a 3.2-mile line in East Baton Rouge Parish, La., to connect with ExxonMobil Chemical Co.’s polyolefins plant.
The line would enable ExxonMobil to access a second railroad (Kansas City Southern currently serves the plant).
The proposed line still is subject to STB’s specific environmental mitigation measures.
ExxonMobil's plant daily generates an average of 35 carloads of outbound plastic pellets and monthly receives about 15 tank cars of solvents used in the manufacturing process.
About 90 percent of the plant's current production is shipped in plastic-pellet or
granular form in ExxonMobil-furnished covered hopper cars to
distribution terminals and plants throughout North America.
STB in October conditionally granted IC’s petition to construct the line — subject to environmental review — over the objection of KCS.