(The Associated Press circulated the following article by John K. Wiley on January 10.)
SPOKANE, Wash. — Agencies that distribute and test water in Washington state have formed a network to keep tabs on a wastewater spill at a northern Idaho train refueling depot.
A leak at a Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Co. refueling station near Hauser, Idaho, was discovered Dec. 10.
The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality said small amounts of petroleum-laced wastewater made their way to the Rathdrum Prairie-Spokane Aquifer, the sole source of drinking water for 400,000 people in northern Idaho and northeast Washington.
Results of preliminary tests indicate no immediate threat to drinking water, health officials in both states said Monday. Cities and towns in Washington are considering additional testing as a precaution, Dr. Kim Thorburn, Spokane Regional Health District health officer, said Monday.
Representatives of the Washington state health and ecology departments, the regional health district, Spokane city and county and water districts met last week and vowed to push for more scrutiny of potential sources of contamination, Thorburn said.
“As our sole source of drinking water, the Rathdrum-Spokane Aquifer is precious and vulnerable,” Thorburn said in a release. “This leak reminds each of us that we must be careful with the storage, handling and disposal of chemicals and other contaminants above the aquifer.”
The chemical components of diesel fuel found in one of six monitoring wells near the refueling facility would violate certain Washington standards that Idaho does not have, said Geoff Harvey of the Idaho DEQ.
When the $42 million refueling depot was completed last fall, railroad officials called it one of the safest in the nation. But although the ground under the refueling “pad” is lined with impermeable material, the 8-inch plastic transfer pipes intended to carry wastewater to nearby holding tanks are not.
It is not known how long the pipes have leaked, or how much has spilled. Results of a BNSF investigation are expected before the end of the month, Harvey said.
The railroad may be required to dig up soil under the broken pipes to ensure the contamination does not continue to threaten the aquifer, Harvey said.
BNSF has apologized for the spill and said it would take measures to ensure another won’t happen.
BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas said the company would soon be submitting a report to the Idaho environmental quality department on what’s been done since the spill was discovered. The next step, Melonas said, will be to complete “a remediation and correction plan which ensures environmental protection.”
Because water moves slowly in the aquifer, Washington officials have the luxury of time as they monitor the situation in Idaho and make plans for protecting their water supplies, Thorburn said.
“We feel like we opened a good channel of communication with the Idaho DEQ,” Thorburn said. “We’re working very well together on this. This `opportunity’ has even enhanced that.”