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BNSF Former Maintenance and Fueling Facility, Skykomish, Washington

SITE DESCRIPTION

The former railway maintenance and fueling facility in the town of Skykomish was operated by BNSF Railway Company. Historical activities at the site included refueling and maintaining locomotives and operating an electrical substation. These activities resulted in the release of petroleum and heavy metals to the surrounding environment. BNSF is conducting a cleanup of the contamination at the site with Ecology oversight.

Here you can find historic information, documents, activities, and current events for the cleanup.

Current Cleanup Activities - March 2009

In October 2007 Ecology and BNSF Railway (BSNF) entered into a legal agreement called a Consent Decree that formally described their working relationship and outlined a scope and schedule of work under a Cleanup Action Plan (CAP).  Under that plan and a previous Interim Action, a new levee was installed in 2006, an underground hydraulic control and containment system was installed along the railyard, 10 structures were successfully moved to allow removal of contaminated soil and returned to their properties, and approximately 45,000 gallons of Bunker-C oil was removed .

In January of 2009, BNSF proposed to Ecology a plan which would revise several major elements of the current CAP:

• Incorporate cleanup work in the Northwest Developed Zone and the Fifth Street Bridge into the 2009 cleanup work (previously scheduled for 2010);
• Postpone cleanup work in the South Developed Zone and Former Maloney Creek, until 2010 (previously scheduled for 2009);
• Utilize 2011 for any work not completed in prior years, completion of the school cleanup, restoration activities and dismantling of active cleanup operations;
• Consider excavation of school property as an alternative, along with thermal treatment, to achieve the best cleanup results. Under the current CAP only thermal treatments are considered.

Ecology is currently seeking the public’s input on these proposed changes to the CAP. It will be conducting a Public Meeting on March 25, 2009 in cooperation with BNSF to present these changes. That meeting will be part of a Public Comment Period from March 23, 2009 to April 21, 2009. After the 30-day public comment period, Ecology will review all comments received and make recommendations for any suggested changes. If no significant changes are necessary, Ecology will approve the revisions to the CAP and BNSF will proceed with the cleanup accordingly. The proposed plan and changes to the original CAP can be viewed in the Revised Amendment to the Cleanup Action Plan.

If after the 30-day comment period it is determined that the proposed changes to the CAP are not feasible, Ecology will not approve the changes and BNSF will proceed with the original Cleanup Action Plan, as required in the Consent Decree. During the 2009 cleanup season, construction of the Town’s new Waste Water Treatment System will continue as well, and is currently scheduled to be completed in October of 2009.

For more information regarding these proposed changes to the CAP, or the cleanup in general, please see the Revised Amendment to the Cleanup Action Plan, or the Skykomish Cleanup Webpage. You may also visit any of the site information repositories, and contact the Ecology Skykomish Team at (425) 649-4486 for information or a copy of the 2009 Engineer Design Report.

Past Studies, Reports, and Plans

During the cleanup process, Ecology requires investigations and studies to determine the nature and extent of contamination on the site and to identify ways of cleaning it up.  This process is explained in the Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study and the Interim Action Plan.  Once this has happened, a cleanup action plan is developed, and a legal agreement called a Consent Decree (CD) is negotiated between Ecology and the Potentially Liable Party (PLP).  For this site BNSF is the PLP, and a CD was agreed to and entered in court in October 2007.  The Consent Decree also contains and Cleanup Action Plan, Schedule, and Public Participation Plan, all of which outline how the cleanup will be conducted.  An Environmental Impact Statement is also prepared to make sure the cleanup addresses key environmental concerns and issues.  These documents have been completed in past years and are listed here:

• Final 2008 Engineer Design Report
• Final Master Engineer Design Report
• 2008 Construction Plans and Specifications
• 2008 Hydraulic Control and Containment Special Design Report
• 2008 Compliance Monitoring Plan
Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study - 2005
• Interim Action 2001 and 2006
• Consent Decree - 2007
• Cleanup Action Plan
• Cleanup Schedule
• Public Participation Plan
• Final Environmental Impact Statement - 2007
• Response to Public Comment (Excluding original comments due to file size. The full document is available at the information repositories.)

Public Participation

Public participation is an important part of the cleanup process.  This section includes the detailed Public Participation Plan prepared by Ecology and used to guide community involvement during the cleanup. In addition, this section includes information on public meetings, the town's visioning process, facts sheets, letters and other communications with the public, and cleanup timelines and responsiveness summaries.

Legal Information

The Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA) is a hazardous waste cleanup law that guides the cleanup activities of Ecology.  This section includes legal agreements for cleanup and other legal information.

Related Information

• Watershed Information for WRIA 07

Additional Resources

• Acronyms used by the Toxic Cleanup Program
• Cleanup Process: Major Steps & Definitions
• Data Submittal Requirements for All Cleanup Sites
• Facility/Site Atlas
• Toxics Cleanup publications