Environmental Regulators For State Won’T Be Testifying

The agencies that would oversee a fueling depot at Hauser will have little to say at Monday’s public hearing on the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe facility.

Officials from the Idaho Division of Environmental Quality say their comments are already on file, so there’s no need to submit live testimony at the hearing.

A representative from the Panhandle Health District, meanwhile, will read the board’s August motion against building the depot over the Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer.

The statement suggests that “for the best interest of public health, it would be more prudent to select a different site,” district director Kay Kindig said. Any agency with an official position should testify, said the health district’s former director.

“It is a public health issue,” said Larry Belmont, a depot opponent who directed PHD for 27 years until 1998. “Remember, you can only live three or four days without water. You can’t drink oil.”

But state regulators essentially retracted their depot position after discussions between the railroad and DEQ’s top official.

Staffer Gary Gaffney came out against the Hauser location in August.

“Our preference is that the site selected for the facility be located in an area where the impacts can be managed without affecting a highly vulnerable ground water or an irreplaceable source of drinking water,” Gaffney wrote on behalf of DEQ in an Aug. 23 letter.

Then, an Aug. 31 letter from BNSF to agency director Steve Allred describes the depot’s environmental protections and makes a request.

“We would hope that you and your Division would remain neutral on the issue of locating the facility over the aquifer, leaving the County Commissioners to decide the matter of the conditional use permits on the basis of facts,” states the letter from railroad Vice President Mark Stehly.

Gaffney’s letter does not reflect the official position of the agency, John Sutherland, DEQ’s regional waste and remediation program manager, said this week.

“We need to get our position clearly understood,” Sutherland said. “We acknowledge the siting decision is the county’s. We remain neutral on giving opinions on siting.”

The Spokane Regional Health District board also opted to delay its decision on the depot, despite a staff recommendation to oppose it.

A decision scheduled for Oct. 21 was tabled after the railroad that day requested the board not make a decision until the hearing examiner files her recommendation.

The Panhandle Health District administers North Idaho’s aquifer protection program. The DEQ oversees surface water quality. The Spokane district has no regulatory authority, but represents the bulk of aquifer water users.

This sidebar appeared with the story: WHAT’S NEXT Public hearing The public has a chance to comment on the proposed fueling depot near Rathdrum. Hearing examiner Jean DeBarbieris will preside over a Kootenai County conditional-use permit hearing Monday from 6 p.m. until 11 p.m. at the Lake City High School Auditorium, 6106 Ramsey Road, in Coeur d’Alene. The hearing may be continued if enough people want to testify. Written comments also are being accepted. DeBarbieris will make a recommendation to the Kootenai County commissioners within three or four weeks. The commission is expected to make a final decision by early next year.