Depot gets more time for repairs

The rainy weather has slowed reconstruction work at BNSF Railway’s refueling depot near Rathdrum, Idaho.

Idaho 1st District Judge Charles Hosack granted the railroad an additional three days to complete the work before a court hearing to decide the operating fate of the depot. The hearing is now scheduled for 9 a.m. Friday at the Kootenai County Courthouse in Coeur d’Alene.

At least four fuel leaks have been discovered at the high-speed refueling depot since it opened Sept. 1. The findings prompted a court order to close the depot, which sits atop the region’s drinking water aquifer. Traces of diesel have been found in the groundwater, but state officials say the contamination does not pose a threat to human health.

Although the railroad initially insisted the problems were minor and could be fixed quickly, reports from the site have described a small army of technicians attempting to repair extensive flaws, including cracks accordioned across the concrete fueling platform.

The cracks allowed diesel and other chemicals spilled during the refueling process – up to 500,000 gallons of diesel were pumped daily at the depot – to seep into the soil below. Two layers of plastic membrane were supposed to capture any leaked fuel, but at least one layer of the barriers leaked and traces of fuel have since been discovered outside the outermost membrane, according to information from the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality.

Pressure will be intense on state and county officials, who are entrusted with signing off on the changes at the depot, to ensure the facility does not fail again, said Barry Rosenberg, executive director of the Kootenai Environmental Alliance, of Coeur d’Alene.

“Everywhere I turn and everybody I speak to is just incensed about this situation,” he said. “I don’t think the public pressure is going to diminish. I think DEQ and the county are going to be held extremely accountable should another leak or breach in the containment system occur.”

State officials have been monitoring the situation daily.

County Building and Planning Director Rand Wichman toured the depot Tuesday along with County Commissioner Rick Currie.

Wichman, who has never hesitated to speak his mind when he disagrees with the railroad’s practices, said he is feeling more optimistic the repairs will safeguard the aquifer.

“This big question is, can you get it sealed?” Wichman said. “I can say with some certainty that I think you can. I do have some confidence that it will be a better facility and it will meet our requirements before it will open up.”

BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas said the total repair cost has not been tallied, but some observers of the work estimate it could top $10 million. Melonas said no expense has been spared to fix the flaws to ensure the railroad will enter next week’s court hearing with a strong case.

“We’re confident in this investment,” Melonas said.

Apart from sealing the cracks with an industrial epoxy – topped by two more layers of sealant – the railroad has replaced an estimated 40 faulty gaskets where underground pipes passed through the buried fuel membranes.

Twenty penetration points will remain in the liners buried below the fueling platform, the pumphouse and the fuel storage site, according to state and county officials.

But the gaskets will feature high-density plastic pipes made of the same material as the membrane, which will allow the pipes and membrane to be fused together, said Wichman, the county building and planning director.

“You can weld the liner directly to the pipe,” he said.

An estimated 80,000 square feet of concrete at the facility is being sealed with a rubberized coating capable of expanding to three times its normal size without cracking.

The railroad has not yet said why there have been so many failures at the $42 million depot, which was hailed as state of the art when it opened seven months ago.

In a report submitted this winter to the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, one BNSF official blamed the cracks on freezing and thawing – which may be an unlikely engineering oversight considering North Idaho’s extreme climate.

Wichman said contractor error is emerging as a leading theory behind the flaws.

Some have questioned whether trains were traveling too quickly through the depot, essentially rattling the facility apart. Wichman disagreed, saying cracks were found in concrete structures away from the fueling platform.

County Commissioner Currie said reinforcing steel bars could be spotted throughout holes cut in the fueling platform. Currie said citizens have asked him whether the railroad simply neglected to use this so-called rebar.

“I’m not an architect or engineer, but it looked to me like there was a fair amount of rebar going through the concrete,” Currie said. “That made me feel a little better.”

BNSF is now beginning to conduct tests on the rebuilt depot, including injecting helium between the two layers of buried fuel membrane to test for any leaks. Results are expected before Friday’s court hearing.