Bnsf Files Application For Fuel Depot Permit

Sat., July 17, 1999

By Ken Olsen keno@spokesman.com

Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway officially applied for the county permit that could allow it to build a locomotive refueling depot near Rathdrum, a company spokesman said Friday.

There is no public hearing set for the railway’s application for a conditional use permit. From the county’s perspective, the railroad has more material to submit.

“They have started submitting paperwork but we do not have everything,” County Planning Director Cheri Howell said. “We won’t schedule a public hearing until it is complete.”

The county still is reviewing the application, received Friday afternoon, in order to determine what Burlington Northern needs to provide. The Kootenai County commissioners ultimately will have to vote on the proposal.

If approved, the railroad says it will start construction next spring. The depot would dispense 84 million gallons of diesel a year in the course of refueling 25 trains a day, according to Burlington Northern documents.

The railroad first proposed the depot two years ago and then withdrew its application after significant public outcry over the prospect of storing millions of gallons of diesel fuel over the Spokane Valley Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer.

But the railroad has modified its plans and added spill containment safeguards. For example, it will store far less fuel on site than it proposed two years ago.

Then Burlington Northern was going to build tanks capable of holding nearly 2 million gallons of fuel with the option of adding another 1 million gallon tank later.

Now Burlington Northern is planning to build two tanks capable of storing a total of 500,000 gallons of diesel. However, the railroad plans to fuel the same number of locomotives as before. That means the railroad will have to deliver fuel, via railroad tank car, more frequently.

IDAHO HEADLINE: BNSF applies for depot

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