Depot watchdogs incur chairman’s ire

A local environmental group delivered a petition with more than 7,600 signatures to the Kootenai County commission Monday, marking the one-year anniversary of diesel leaks at BNSF Railway’s refueling depot on the Rathdrum Prairie.

“We haven’t forgotten,” said Barry Rosenberg of the Kootenai Environmental Alliance. “The public is still very much aware.”

The petition demands the relocation of the $50 million high-speed refueling depot, which sits above the sole drinking-water supply for 500,000 people in Kootenai and Spokane counties.

Rosenberg, along with the North Idaho College group Students for Progressive Change, raised concerns about access to monthly reports from the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality regarding the cleanup and monitoring efforts.

Rosenberg also questioned whether the department is providing a full report of the monitoring results, referring to an incident in July when an inch-thick sheen of petroleum residue was found on top of the aquifer. He said there was no specific mention of it in the department’s report to the county.

Commission Chairman Gus Johnson met with Rosenberg and a member of the student group, but he kicked the media out of his office.

“This is a meeting between me and Mr. Rosenberg,” Johnson told the journalists.

He then slammed his door and was heard yelling at Rosenberg for setting up the media blitz.

After the meeting, Johnson said Rosenberg should have asked to meet with the entire commission if he wanted the session open to the media.

Johnson said he reassured the groups that the refueling depot remains a top priority for the commission, but he added that it’s unlikely the county will push for relocation. Such a move could result in the county’s losing its oversight ability, he said.

“If we start playing those cards on the table, I think you will find that Burlington Northern will find a way to take us out of the loop,” Johnson said. “That means they wouldn’t be accountable to us, but (to) the federal government. That’s when things do get pushed under the rug.”

Johnson committed to posting all future reports from the Department of Environmental Quality on the county’s Web site. He said he thinks the department’s reports have been complete and the railroad knows it’s being watched. Commissioners plan to meet with agency officials in January to get a more comprehensive update, then follow up with a tour of the depot this spring.

The Environmental Quality Department’s Marc Kalbaugh said reports to the commission are public records and are provided upon request.

Kalbaugh said the reports are complete. He also said the petroleum found on the aquifer in July was part of the initial leaks, so it wasn’t considered a new development.

He said the July report to the commission notes that more analysis was requested to ensure that the exact size and location of the sheen was marked and monitored.

The report states that the department requested “minor changes” to the cleanup plan.

Rosenberg says that’s not clear enough for the general public to understand.