(The Associated Press circulated the following article on May 1.)
RATHDRUM, Idaho — Opponents of a Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway refueling depot have turned to a protest song, jokes and at least one drink recipe as they try to permanently shutter the Northern Idaho facility.
In February, First District Judge Charles Hosack granted the state’s request for an emergency order to shut down the $42 million depot in the midst of leaks at the site above an aquifer that supplies water to 400,000 people in Idaho and Washington.
It’s been closed ever since, but last week BNSF officials asked in a First District Court hearing to resume operations. Although several small leaks remain, they said, major improvements make the depot ready for business again.
Spokane musician and Gonzaga University instructor Bill Kostelec, a foe of the depot, has poured his frustrations into a song.
The lyrics to Kostelec’s “The Rathdrum Prairie Refueling Depot Disaster” include the lines, “Now the plastic sheet is leaking and your poison’s sinking down / To foul our lifeblood treasure laying hidden beneath the ground.”
The song has gotten some air time on KYRS-FM in Spokane, and Kostelec’s acoustic band, The Blue Ribbon Tea Company, has since been invited to perform the tune in Seattle over Memorial Day weekend at the Northwest Folklife Festival.
Railroad officials say the protests “are out of emotion, not based on science.”
“Since December, we have aggressively modified the facility. Industrial experts have investigated, and we’ve tested,” said BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas on Sunday. “We’ve invested in modification to ensure the aquifer is protected today, and in the future.”
State Department of Environmental Quality officials estimate 2,000 to 3,000 gallons of diesel and motor oil have reached the aquifer. They say that’s a relatively tiny amount considering the trillions of gallons of groundwater that flow below the depot.
Still, opponents have opted for hyperbole to make a point: They don’t want the depot to resume refueling.
Coeur d’Alene resident Dave Larson spouted a bit of gallows humor last week as he marched in front of the Kootenai County Courthouse before the hearing on whether the depot should be allowed to reopen.
The spill will actually help with energy conservation, Larson suggested. Heating water for a cup of tea no longer requires a kettle and a stove, he joked just pour a cup of groundwater and light it with a match.
“What else can you do but joke?” Larson said. “We’re fighting such a powerhouse.”
One protest wisecrack making the rounds is a recipe for a new North Idaho cocktail the oilermaker.
It calls for a mug of beer served with a shot of tap water.
Drinking water safety hasn’t been compromised, state officials have said.
Still, attorneys for the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality said at last week’s hearing they aren’t yet convinced the depot no longer poses a threat to the Spokane Valley/Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer.
The railroad returns to court Monday to argue that Hosack’s February emergency closure order violated special protections granted to the railroad by federal interstate commerce laws.
On Dec. 10 — three months after the depot opened — a crushed pipe was discovered to have been leaking fuel-tainted wastewater into the ground. In February, BNSF reported that fuel had leaked through an extensive series of cracks on the concrete refueling platform.
A further investigation showed faulty seals on portions of a plastic liner buried below the depot.