An S-R story by Zaz Hollander on Feb. 6, 2001, seems prophetic in the wake of the wastewater spill at the BNSF refueling depot last month. It concludes:

"A former railroad employee says the (BNSF refueling) facility will never be safe enough.

"The accidents Don Milliken saw -- rail cars ripped open by passing trains - happened before trains got to fueling areas, said Milliken, who worked for BNSF in Spokane's Hillyard and Yardley rail areas for 30 years before retiring in the early 1980s.

"Those areas aren't protected by BNSF the way the fueling platform and tank farm are," he said.

"I think the refueling depot itself is safe enough but a lot of things can happen out there in the yard beyond the depot."

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