WPC k"LKw prFE9{@tOoX}p^gm~P1/SӠaޕ'1F;3^2j3%+y{+)i|Ojȹod2nFџ|'&n nN1d: ß[!U3Nx 6(tLupY1a(5v#ǽ9auhTJCpejOHjUy?l$?wZ6߯mwXb#,N1&Sv~#B^TY)LI1cvc>l@_X`7oաd#!UN %O 0(U^ }w@4 mU@ bMMU@UHP LaserJet 5/5M - Standard,,,,0(hH  Z6Times New Roman RegularX(${\(b UDE&:i+003|xU (hH  Z(CG Times Regular- -*0 AZ(CG Omega Regular !  ݛ_ X(XXX &3%X XF7X 8XXdd8  XXX X(XxTX%&# X(XXX#February22,2000.Mr.VernonA.Williams,SecretarySurfaceTransportationBoardOfficeoftheSecretaryCaseControlUnit_Attn_:STBExParteNo.5821925KStreet,N.W.Washington,D.C.204230001πDearSir;. ` _ԢFernz_Ԁ_ԢSulfer_ԀWorksInc.isaplantnutrientfertilizercompanythatisauserofrailserviceintheU.S.andCanada.ThepurposeofthisletteristocommentontheissuestobediscussedonMarch8th,2000inExParte582.   ` WeencouragetheSurfaceTransportationBoardtofocusonwhethertheproposedCN_ԢBNSF_Ԁcombinationisgoodforshippers,notonpotentialdownstreameffects.TheCN_ԢBNSF_Ԁcombinationshouldbejudgedonitsmeritsandifshouldbejudgedonitsmeritsandifothercarriersproposemergers,thenthesecasesoughttobeevaluatedontheirmerits. ` ThetimingoftheproposedCN_ԢBNSF_Ԁisnotthecentralissueforourcompany.Ourconcernisservice.Recentmergershavefailedonservice,notbecauseoftiming.Accordingly,theSurfaceTransportationBoardshouldfocusonensuringthatCN_ԢBNSF_Ԁcombination,andanyotherfuturemergers,willdeliverservice. ` TheSurfaceTransportationBoardhasacomprehensiveprocesstoevaluaterailroadtransactionsandprotectthepublicinterest.ItshouldfairlyevaluatetheCN_ԢBNSF_Ԁcombinationaccordingtothatprocess.DonotletotherrailroadsusetheSurfaceTransportationBoardprocesstoprotectthemselvesandnotshippers.Sincerely,MichaelJ._ԢHaug_ChiefExecutiveOfficer_ԢFernz_Ԁ_ԢSulFer_ԀWorksInc.StevePleis# XF7XXXxT#