Kansas intermodal facility gets nod from Corps

Kansas intermodal facility gets nod from Corps    The Kansas City District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has issued a permit to BNSF Railway to build an intermodal facility in Johnson County, Kan.
   The Corps said last week that with cooperation from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Region 7 it had concluded review of the proposed BNSF terminal and found “the project is in the public interest, is the least environmentally damaging practicable alternative, and will not significantly impact the human environment.”
   The terminal is part of Logistics Park Kansas City (LPKC), a 1,000 acre intermodal-served logistics park located 25 miles south of Kansas City in Gardner, Kan.
   In the fall of 2006, BNSF selected The Allen Group to develop the project for future distribution and warehouse facilities. Allen plans for the park to be a key hub for distribution throughout the central United States. At full build-out, LPKC will have in excess of 7 million square feet of vertical development. Earlier this year BNSF said the timetable for the project might be extended because of the weak economy.
   Several press reports said a group called Hillsdale Environmental Loss Prevention Inc. is planning to file a lawsuit to overturn the permit issued by the Corps.