(The following story by John O’Connell appeared on the Idaho State Journal website on November 10.)
POCATELLO, Idaho — Union Pacific Railroad will give the city $800,000 to replace a municipal well threatened by UP diesel fuel contamination.
The City Council approved the agreement with UP Thursday and will use the funds to build a new well in Rainy Park, located along the Portneuf River near where Arthur Avenue becomes Bannock Highway.
The city started discussing replacing the threatened water source, Well 30, five years ago.
City Attorney Dean Trammer said UP fuel spilled throughout the past five decades is drawing closer to the well, and traces of diesel fuel have been detected in Well 30 water.
Trammer said the area’s prolonged drought has exacerbated the problem in the past three years.
“As the drought continues, it seems to be drawing the diesel fuel towards (Well 30,)” Trammer said.
Union Pacific will be required to submit a plan to the Department of Environmental Quality on how to clean up the contamination and will be financially responsible for the clean-up.
Engineers hired by UP estimated the Rainy Park well will cost $300,000 to build.
Funds will also be used to build booster stations, which will help transport water between the city’s east and west benches, and to pipe water around Well 30.
Well 30 will be capped and taken off line and could be used again in the future once contaminants are removed.
Mayor Roger Chase said the agreement should also provide the city with enough money to build another well if the Rainy Field well gets contaminated or doesn’t produce enough water to meet demand.
Well 30 is currently the only water source accessible to the west bench. Trammer said the booster stations will also enable the city to transport water from other wells to the west bench.
“We think with the amount of money we’re getting from it, we’re going to be able to get the water to the west side and enhance our delivery system so there’s not a bottleneck at Well 30,” Trammer said. “If everything goes well, this could be a very good agreement for us. If things go badly, we could end up spending every penny and then some.”
Trammer said Well 30 pumped 2,700 gallons per minute. If the city is lucky, the new well’s location will be toward the center of the aquifer, where water is of better quality and pressure is optimal.
The new well could be less productive if it’s location is toward the aquifer’s edge.
“There’s so little known about the characteristics of the aquifer,” Trammer said.
The city had another well near the Rainy Park location in the 1960s but capped it partly because the Portneuf River would flood and contaminate it. The river now runs through a concrete-lined channel near the park and no longer floods there.
– Also during the meeting, the City Council changed an ordinance to allow construction of manufactured homes on foundations located within mobile home parks.
– The City Council also voted to close roads for a few hours Dec. 5 for Old Town Pocatello’s Cottages and Cranberries celebration.
Roads will be closed in the 300 block of East Center Street, West Center Street and West Clark Avenue from Union Pacific Avenue to Arthur Avenue and Main Street from West Bonneville to West Lander.