Progress report planned on rail-yard work

Recently completed environmental cleanup work at the rail yard in Whitefish will be discussed at a public meeting Thursday, March 12, in Whitefish.

The meeting runs from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Whitefish City Hall. Representatives from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality will share information about the status of the BNSF Railway Co. yard, a designated State Superfund Facility.

Whitefish residents are encouraged to participate and ask questions.

Representatives of the Department of Environmental Quality will share information about recently completed work at the facility, including a brief overview of the Whitefish River cleanup, information on a human health risk assessment currently underway and details on the next steps.

The rail yard is a 78-acre active locomotive fueling and repair facility that has operated since the 1890s. The facility had three separate fueling areas: a freight fueling area west of the viaduct over the railroad tracks and two Amtrak fueling areas east of the viaduct. The passenger fueling areas were not used after the mid-1980s, but the freight fueling area is still active, according a state site summary. 

Spills and leaks from railroad operations and oily discharges to wastewater lagoons through the years resulted in soil and shallow groundwater contamination with petroleum products and other hazardous substances.

In 1973 Burlington Northern Railway began recovering free petroleum products from shallow groundwater via an interception trench southeast of the roundhouse, in between the wastewater lagoons and the Whitefish River.

In 1986 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency inspected the facility after a citizen complaint of oil sheen in the river. The state subsequently began overseeing an investigation and cleanup at the rail facility.

Oversight and studies continued through the years. Another citizen complaint was made in 2007 regarding oil in the river, and by 2009 the federal agency issued an administrative order to remove contaminated sediment from the river. Cleanup work in the river commenced in 2009 and continued for several years.

The rail facility is listed as a high priority site on the Montana Comprehensive Environmental Cleanup and Responsibility Act Priority List.