Rail bridge a bust

Inland Northwest leaders work together in many ways, but (Sen. Michael) Baumgartner wants to throw Sandpoint “under the bridge” (Second rail bridge would be boon to all,” April 14, 2018). He is short-sighted, applauding a proposed second rail bridge over Lake Pend Oreille right next to Sandpoint City Beach. He writes that it would be a boon.

Just last year there were two derailments less than thirty miles from the lake: a coal spill to the east on the Clark Fork River, and a derailment of cars loaded with corn to the south. Many of the fifty or so trains that pass each day are filled with coal or volatile, toxic oil. Can the infrastructure handle more trains?

Imagine a 100-plus car diesel train waiting over the fresh water which is a large contributor of recharge to the Spokane aquifer. While the train waits over the Lake, a second 100-plus car diesel train passes on the second bridge, just fifty feet away from the existing bridge. Safety, clean water and clean air must come first.

We are all connected: waters from the Idaho and Montana mountains provide the people of the Spokane area drinking water and recreation areas. Remember the Spokane motto: near nature, near perfect? A second rail bridge over Lake Pend Oreille is a bust, not a boon, for all of us.

Judy Butler

Hope, Idaho