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Department of Ecology News Release - September 3, 2010
10-229
SPOKANE — The public has an opportunity to review and comment on Department of Ecology (Ecology) documents that will guide the cleanup of an old rail yard at 5302 E. Trent Ave. in Spokane. Comments will be accepted through Oct. 4, 2010. The site, called the Parkwater Railyard site, belongs to Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railroad (BNSF).
Recent investigations confirmed that portions of the 130-acre site were contaminated with levels of petroleum and aromatic hydrocarbons, arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, naphthalene, and methylene chloride that violate state standards.
The facility, formerly known as Yardley, is one-half mile south of the Spokane River and lies over the Spokane Valley Rathdrum Prairie aquifer.
In 2009, BNSF entered into a legal agreement with Ecology, called an agreed order. The order required BNSF to conduct what’s called a “Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study” at the Parkwater Railyard site.
The purpose of the investigation was to precisely identify the contaminants and the amount of the contaminants at the site and determine where they are located. The purpose of the feasibility study was to evaluate different methods of cleaning up the site. The study also provides the information needed to develop a cleanup action plan. The combined document was completed in February 2010.
BNSF Parkwater property has been used as a rail yard for nearly 100 years. It was the main facility for the Northern Pacific Railroad in the early 1900s until the roundhouse was torn down in 1959. Current operations include fueling, intermodal operations, and switching of rail cars. Historical operations also included maintenance. Underground tanks containing diesel, waste oil, and possibly solvents were housed on-site to support daily operations.
In 2004, some of the fueling operations at BNSF Parkwater were moved to a new facility in Hauser, Idaho. Currently, BNSF Parkwater serves as a support fueling facility to the Hauser facility when there is high demand.
BNSF initiated investigations and cleanup actions at the site prior to the 2009 formal agreed order with Ecology. These previous investigations found polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in soil and petroleum hydrocarbons in soil and groundwater at the site. BNSF removed PCB-contaminated soil from one location in 2002. The company removed diesel-contaminated soil in another location, and conducted two cleanups after a diesel release near the Yardley office in 2000 and an oil spill in another location on the property.
Investigations found that one or more of four underground storage tanks that held diesel fuel and waste oil used to refuel locomotives leaked over time, contaminating soil and the underground water. In March 2009, BNSF began operating a soil and water treatment system in the fueling area to treat and remove petroleum hydrocarbons. Monitoring indicates that the system is working as designed.
Soil contamination in most areas is limited to shallow soil between the surface and eight feet below the ground. The fueling area has deeper contamination between 12 and 65 feet below the ground surface.
Three alternatives were evaluated for cleaning up the soil and underground water. BNSF prefers the option of removing contaminated soil in several areas, using asphalt or gravel as a protective cap to cover remaining contamination, and continuing the current treatments of deep soil and groundwater at the fueling area. Ecology will review and evaluate this proposal and prepare a draft Cleanup Action Plan.
The investigation and feasibility study documents can be reviewed at the Department of Ecology, 4601 N. Monroe in Spokane by calling Kari Johnson for an appointment at 509-329-3415. They also are available at the Argonne County Library in Millwood, the Spokane Valley Library on East Main in Spokane Valley.
Comments will be accepted Sept. 3 through Oct. 4, 2010. Send Comments to Sandra Treccani by e-mail at satr461@ecy.wa.gov, or by mail to WA Department of Ecology, 4601 N. Monroe, Spokane WA 99205-1295. Sandra can be reached at 509-329-3412.
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For more information: www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/tcp/sites/parkwater/railyard_hp.htm
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