(The following story by Jeff Gearino appeared on the Casper Star-Tribune website on January 7.)
GREEN RIVER, Wyo. — Call it a good-neighbor ambush.
Ostensibly, the Green River City Council workshop Tuesday night was about a relatively routine proposal from Union Pacific Railroad to continue storing used oil at its massive rail yard in the city.
But the real message from the council to the company was loud and clear: Clean up your act and give the city some respect.
City officials got a rare chance to lecture the railroad giant about being a good corporate neighbor and an unusual opportunity to vent their frustration with an actual UP official before a packed crowd of residents.
Council members were especially peeved about the railroad’s dismissal of repeated requests from the city for UP to clean up trash and litter in the downtown rail yard, particularly near the city’s road maintenance buildings.
The UP rail yard slowly is turning into a deteriorating eyesore, councilmen charged.
They said the lack of a cleanup is thwarting the city’s ongoing, expensive beautification efforts in the surrounding neighborhoods, particularly along Second South Street.
It was obvious council members were still smarting from a perceived snub by UP two years ago when the company refused to donate to a $2 million renovation of the railroad underpass viaduct — a project caused in part by oil seepage from the railroad tracks above.
“When you look back at UP’s (history) … you haven’t been a good neighbor,” Councilman Tom McCullough said. “UP has not been diligent in working with the city on our (beautification) projects … or our underpass.”
The city has had a long, complicated and often contentious relationship with the railroad. Its history, like every other southern Wyoming town, is inexorably linked to the UP railroad.
UP arrived in 1868, seeking access to the Green River’s water to power the huge stream-engine locomotives. In 1875, the company began construction on a large depot, shop and yard in Green River, which still serves the UP main line today.
Confusing notice
Mayor Hank Castillon called the special workshop after residents received what he called a “confusing” notice last month from the state Department of Environmental Quality about the UP oil storage proposal.
City officials weren’t sure about the company’s plans. He said residents worried UP may try to increase storage by building larger facilities in the yard, or might truck in used oil from other states.
“We weren’t quite clear what your intentions were … there was a lot of concerns from our citizens,” Castillon said. “You left us in the dark.”
The mayor also noted the company has a past history of leaks in the city — including petroleum seepage at the city’s old water treatment plant near the yard, which led to the building of a new water treatment plant at another site in the 1980s — which made the city wary of any UP proposal.
Council members were also miffed about an underpass renovation project in 2007.
City officials accused the company of violating the spirit of a 70-year-old deal — which outlined who would maintain, clean and repair the railroad underpass — when it refused to donate $15,000 to a city-sponsored, $2 million restoration and rehabilitation underpass project.
UP officials said at the time the company’s only maintenance responsibility was to keep the bridge structurally sound. They contended UP did not have a financial obligation to pay for “cosmetic” renovations to the underpass.
Three tanks
UP’s 12-acre storage and repair facility dominates the downtown area of Green River. An east-end overpass and west-end underpass are the only two routes across the yard, the sole connections to city’s north and south sides.
The company has maintained several above-ground storage tanks for many decades in the yard for various reasons, including the storage of diesel fuel, lube oil and used oil products, UP consultant Hoyt Sutphin told the council.
Three existing tanks that are used to store oil in the yard are in the process of being permitted by DEQ under new rules and regulations in the state’s solid waste management program.
Sutphin said the three oil tanks have a total estimated capacity to hold 11,300 gallons of used and recovered oil, but the railroad only stores about 2,000 gallons annually.
He said no additional tanks or volume are planned.
UP Manager of Environmental Field Operations Mark Ross admitted the company didn’t do a very good job in its public notice process.
“We could have done a much better job … but there’s nothing changing in the yard other than what has been going on here for many, many years,” Ross said.
But Castillon quickly turned the discussion from oil storage to UP’s civic responsibility.
The mayor — accompanied by a surprise slide show that included numerous photos of litter-strewn UP fences, junked vehicles, old railroad ties and other garbage in the UP yard — chastised company officials for turning Green River into a “dumping ground.”
“This is our backyard, and we’re concerned about it,” Castillon said. “The Second South area certainly needs to be looked at and cleaned up.”
Councilman Pete Rust said the city’s ongoing, three-phase Second South beautification project borders the UP yard.
“It’s a disgrace how that (UP) area has not been kept up for years,” he said.
“The city has invested a lot of money on both sides of the UP property to clean it up and beautify it,” Rust added. “This (cleanup request) relates specifically to a major investment by the city. Besides oil, there’s other pieces to this that you need to address.”
New Councilwoman Lisa Maes noted the company left empty three employee houses near the underpass that were an eyesore for many years.
“It seemed like it took an act of Congress to finally get that cleaned up,” she said.
Moss acknowledged the council’s complaints were valid, and he promised “better responses” from company officials in the future.
“Give us a chance,” Moss said. “I think you’ll see improvement.”