BNSF spill: Rose’s environmental credentials don’t smell so sweet

Why won’t BNSF Railway honcho Matt Rose honor his written personal pledge to “operate our [North Idaho refueling] facility in an exemplary manner, ever mindful of the importance of the ground water resources”? Maybe it’s because Rose has raised so much dough for George W. Bush, who never met a corporate polluter he didn’t like.

During the 2004 campaign, Rose and his wife each contributed $2,000 to the president’s reelection campaign, the maximum allowed under federal law. The Texas rail baron also became a veritable fund-raising locomotive as one of Dubya’s Rangers. Every member of this fat-cat club – folks like Enron’s Ken Lay – pledged to track down at least $200,000 for the Bush-Cheney juggernaut.

These campaign cash “bundlers” receive access to the president and his inner circle for delivering so much bacon. Such powerful friends might come in handy for anyone who, say, needs federal agencies to take his company’s side when local and state governments demand the immediate shutdown of a diesel refueling depot that leaks like a mesh bathtub.

Naming a local official who still supports the Hauser facility is harder than finding an unpunctured cheek on Jose Canseco’s posterior. Some are legitimately concerned about the safety of our water supply. Others fear losing another resource essential to their survival: votes.

But when they go up against a Bush administration bent on trading green space for greenbacks, don’t be surprised if the feds declare unfettered operation of the damaged depot essential to national security, domestic tranquility and the very survival of the human race. The motto down in Texas might be “One Riot, One Ranger,” but we all can use a little extra firepower sometimes.

There are a lot of bad guys in this sordid saga. In addition to BNSF’s feckless leader, we’ve got junior exec Mark Stehly dismissing environmental concerns weeks after offering hollow apologies for the first spill. Meanwhile, railroad flack Gus Melonas sets up rhetorical smokescreens and ducks questions instead of keeping the public adequately informed.

Yes, Larry, Moe and Curly should sue Rose, Stehly and Melonas for giving the word stooge a bad name. And don’t forget Kevin Barker, the aptly named railroad employee who helped shove the depot down our throats. Here’s what Barker told The Spokesman-Review about the facility in 2000: “There’s no way I was going to be involved in a project that would in any way damage the environment. Frankly, there’s no way the railroad would be involved, either.”

Uh, yeah. If that’s a state-of-the-art refueling facility, it’s time to fire Art.

But the real villains of this play are the two ex-Kootenai County Commissioners who sold their constituents down the aquifer by approving the project. One of them, Dick Panabaker, says he’d vote the same way today. The other one, Dick Compton, says he’s disappointed but has no regrets. How’s that for a couple of Dicks?

Shame on the project’s “see no evil” boosters in the Spokane media and business community, as well.

Respected environmental experts showed that building the facility a mere six miles away would protect the aquifer while still creating the good jobs we all want for the region. But the railway balked and many public officials caved.

They proved all too willing to believe the “Music Man” patter of BNSF officials promising a “leak-proof” tomorrow. What about those municipal water supplies the company poisoned in the past? Ancient history. Right. And now we’ve got trouble, right near Idaho’s River City.

But this isn’t a musical, and there won’t be a feel-good finish.