Experts predict cancer, asthma and traffic congestion from Gardner rail facility

When Eric Kirkendall and his wife, Mary, moved to Gardner in 1990 they found an idyllic little farmhouse built in 1870. The couple intended to live there until they retired. But eight years before that date, Kirkendall found out their quiet property might soon be sandwiched by the mammoth warehouses of a huge transportation hub.

The distressed homeowner threw himself into researching the effects of intermodal facilities, sprawling complexes where freight is moved from railcars to diesel trucks and shuttled to regional cities by highway. He created a website outlining the possible environmental and human health effects of the 400-acre project in Gardner proposed by Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway.

In 2007, Kirkendall traveled to a conference in California, where experts discussed the impact of the massive intermodals that service places like the Port of Los Angeles. Last night, Kirkendall brought the California experts to Johnson County. They painted a disturbing picture of what Gardner might become.