(The Associated Press circulated the following article on November 17.)
LARAMIE, Wyo. — The state Department of Environmental Quality is asking Union Pacific to control sediment runoff from its rail yard here.
“It’s getting into our streets where kids play and people ride their bikes,” said Jeremy Nichols, who filed a complaint about the mud with the DEQ.
“These are neighborhood streets. True, it’s an industrial yard there, but it’s a residential area right next door and the least we can ask for is for U.P. to be a good neighbor and to clean up the mess that they leave.”
Sediment from the rail yard runs into the city’s drainage system, covering some storm drains and building up in others. Much of the sediment runs into the Laramie River.
Nichols said the sediment reduces storm sewers’ capacity and can be harmful to fish and other aquatic life in the Laramie River.
Barb Sahl, storm water coordinator for the DEQ, agrees. “It cold reduce the fishing resource and it could reduce the aquatic life resource because, for example, sediment can smother spawning beds or smother other vegetation,” she said.
Sahl said she investigated the site after Nichols’ complaint and discovered that because the yard serves as a diesel fueling area, Union Pacific is required to have an industrial storm water permit for it.
A letter of violation was issued to Union Pacific and the company has until Jan. 30 to submit a plan to address all of the state agency’s concerns.
Mark Ross, manager of environmental field operations for the Omaha, Neb.-based railroad, said Union Pacific will work with the state under the department’s storm water program.
Union Pacific spokesman John Bromley said the railroad will comply with the letter and has hired a Denver firm to draft a proposal.