The Chronicle, July 6, 2001
CONTAMINATION: Soil affected by chemical seepage into water table
SKYKOMISH (AP) Cleanup is set to begin in Skykomish this month to stop the flow of oil beneath the town.
Recent testing by Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Co. shows the groundwater and soil are contaminated with many chemicals, including lead, arsenic, PCBs and diesel and bunker oil.
Almost 160,000 gallons of bunker fuel and lighter diesel oil have seeped into a 15-foot deep aquifer - passing under houses, gardens, drain fields and the Skykomish school and are moving toward the Skykomish River.
"When the water level gets a lot lower in the summer the railroad puts out oil booms to skim the oil," said Michael Moore, founder of the Skykomish Environmental Coalition and a Skykomish resident.
The river feeds into the Snohomish River and is home to the Puget Sound chinook salmon and bull trout. Both species are protected under the Endangered Species Act.
BNSF unveiled a plan at a public hearing in May to build a 600foot-long underground wall to stop the flow before it reaches the fiver.
Construction on the wall is set to begin later this month, pending Department of Ecology approval.
"We're working as hard as we can to get contractors lined up," said Bruce Shepherd, manager of environmental remediation for BNSF "It's our goal to complete the project before school starts in the fall."
Great Northern Railroad, which combined with three other railroads to form Burlington Northern Railroad in 1970, operated a fueling and maintenance facility in Skykomish from the late 1890s to 1970. During that time it maintained trains operating between Wenatchee and Skykomish.
The oil seepage was first discovered in 1912, when black gobs of oil were seen along the liver bank, Moore said.
Shepherd said attempts in the 1960s to clean the site died, but with better technology and help from Moore's group, the cleanup can resume.
Cleaning the site will cost millions of dollars, said Curt Hart, spokesman for the Department of Ecology. He said BNSF has assumed liability and cost of the cleanup and studies.
The railroad has installed 50 monitoring wells in the seepage area and has posted petroleum discharge warning signs on the riverbank. It's also conducting soil, air and water sampling in the area.
The second phase of the plan, which should begin 12 months after completion of the wall, includes installing oil extraction equipment and recovery wells.
Department of Ecology site manager Louise Bardy said it's important the cleanup is done right.
"It's a delicate balance to make sure the plans proposed don't create new problems," Bardy said.
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