If something can go wrong, it will. The leak detected at the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Co. refueling depot near Hauser isn’t catastrophic.

But it is disappointing.

Water users should be concerned that the depot has reported a serious leak of raw wastewater (including diesel fuel and motor oil) above the aquifer less than four months after the $42 million state-of-the-art facility opened. Environmental groups and many residents fought this project because they feared a serious spill could endanger the Spokane Valley/Rathdrum Aquifer, the region’s sole source of drinking water. Now, those fears have been tweaked.

To its credit, BNSF immediately reported the leak to state regulators. And the state is investigating the extent of the environmental damage. Equally important, the railroad should extend its failsafe protection system to cover the area where the spill occurred. Continuous spills and leaks that threaten the groundwater will undermine confidence in the facility.

A supreme decision. It’s been nearly two months since Chief Justice William Rehnquist had the tracheotomy that was meant to improve his breathing as he prepared for chemotherapy and radiation to treat thyroid cancer. He would be back on duty at the Supreme Court by Nov. 1, he said.

Since then, President Bush has been re-elected, removing any uncertainty about who would appoint a replacement if Rehnquist stepped down, or that it might be someone un-Rehnquistlike.

But Rehnquist’s health continues to restrict his ability to attend to court affairs. He has agreed to swear in Bush, and he wrote a Supreme Court opinion on Monday. But, according to a statement issued this week, he won’t participate in deciding cases argued in the first half of November unless he has to break a tie. That would mean he’d miss about a sixth of the court’s workload for the term, USA Today reporter Richard Willing calculated.

Rehnquist, 80, could step down now and protect his own health. Bush will protect his ideology.

A problem of a different color. It’s a hectic, icon-clicking life and the use of symbols saves time, a precious commodity. But, whoops, they may cost an even more precious one — life.

Want to show the world you are fighting cancer? Wear a bracelet. Not just any bracelet, of course, but a yellow bracelet that gives you instant recognition as a supporter of cycling hero Lance Armstrong’s foundation. Or a purple bracelet that identifies your sympathy with the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life events.

Unfortunately, the health-care community has also picked up on the power of symbols but has attached a somewhat different significance to yellow and purple bracelets. A yellow wristband in some Florida hospitals means “do not rescusitate.” In Spokane, Holy Family Hospital uses purple bracelets for the same purpose.

Given the finite variety of colors, jewelry items and articles of clothing, there are bound to be conflicts like these. What next, a federal registry to assign rights to symbolism?