{"id":38433,"date":"2014-09-03T10:02:09","date_gmt":"2014-09-03T15:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/?p=38433"},"modified":"2014-09-03T10:02:52","modified_gmt":"2014-09-03T15:02:52","slug":"where-cotton-is-king-controversy-erupts-over-rail-yard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2014\/09\/03\/where-cotton-is-king-controversy-erupts-over-rail-yard\/","title":{"rendered":"Where Cotton Is King, Controversy Erupts Over Rail Yard"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Railroad<\/a>

<\/p>

Railroad tracks into Mumford just northwest of Bryan-College Station. Photo by Dave Fehling<\/p><\/div>\n

If it seems like you\u2019re spending more time in Houston stuck waiting at railroad crossings, there\u2019s a reason. Compared to just five years ago, there are hundreds of thousands more railcars crisscrossing Texas. Demand from the oil & gas industry is a big factor.<\/p>\n

To keep up, railroad companies are building more tracks. But not everyone thinks that\u2019s a good idea.<\/p>\n

Just northwest of Bryan-College Station you can follow the railroad tracks to the tiny town of Mumford.<\/p>\n

This time of year, the cotton crop is blooming. You\u2019ll see what seem like endless fields of lush green plants topped with bright white puffs. People around here say they cherish this land and would hate to ever see it change.<\/p>\n

\"From<\/a>

Dave Fehling<\/p>

From left to right: Sam Corpora, Kathy Hubbard and Frank DeStefano all have family ties to the farming area where the rail yard project might be built. Photo by Dave Fehling<\/p><\/div>\n

But if one of the nation\u2019s biggest railroad companies, Union Pacific, carries through on a proposal, hundreds of acres of cropland here will be covered with tracks. An enormous rail yard would take shape here, with thousands of rail-cars arriving daily to be sorted then sent on their way.<\/p>\n

Union Pacific told News 88.7 that it has made no final decision on where to locate the new yard but said the facility is needed to meet the demands of a growing economy.<\/p>\n

The proposal surfaced two years ago and immediately drew the anger of some of the farmers.<\/p>\n

One of them is Sam Corpora. But to find him, you don\u2019t follow the train; you follow the plane, the crop duster plane.<\/p>\n

Corpora is sitting in a cotton gin office next door to the landing strip for his crop dusters. The conversation occasionally pauses when one of the planes takes off and passes directly overhead.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>

Dave Fehling<\/p>

A crop duster plane. Photo by Dave Fehling<\/p><\/div>\n

Corpora will tell you how many families here are descendants of Italian farmers who came over a century ago, irrigating fields with water from the nearby Brazos River, making it into what he\u2019ll tell you is among the most productive farmland anywhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis area right here is always impressive. (People say) I\u2019ve never seen such corn as that or cotton that pretty,\u201d Corpora said.<\/p>\n

Also joining our conversation is Kathy Hubbard, another descendant of an Italian farm family.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not against the project. We\u2019re against where they\u2019re siting the project,\u201d Hubbard said.<\/p>\n

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