(The following story by Myers Reece appeared on the Flathead Beacon website on July 7, 2009.)
WHITEFISH, Mont. On Tuesday morning, representatives from Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway explained for the first time, following months of silence, their reasons for discreetly attempting to purchase properties in Whitefishs railway district.
Speaking to a crowd of more than 30 city officials and property owners, many who were visibly frustrated, BNSF Vice President Charles Shewmake said his company has sought to purchase properties and withheld information in an effort to mitigate its legal liabilities, not because the company wants to avoid cleanup. He also made assurances that there are no health or safety risks posed by the toxic plumes.
Whitefish is safe, Shewmake said.
Among the officials present at the meeting were Gov. Brian Schweitzer and his staff, along with Whitefishs City Manager Chuck Stearns, City Attorney John Phelps and Mayor Mike Jenson. Several other notable community figures and property owners also showed.
Shewmake and BNSFs environmental director, Allen Stegman, explained that Montana has unique litigation conditions and their company wanted to avoid a similar outcome to a court case between the town of Sunburst and oil giant Texaco. In that $41-million lawsuit from 2007, the Montana Supreme Court ruled against Texaco for extensive gasoline spillage at its former refinery in Sunburst, north of Shelby.
But after looking into acquiring properties and factoring in the high appraisal rates, Shewmake said BNSF shifted gears. Experts hired by the company and officials from the states Department of Environmental Quality believe that the subsurface of the area is stable and thus the plumes are as well. Company officials want to move ahead with remediation.
Shewmake said the company has closed deals on three houses and has a couple more in the pipeline, but after that there will likely be no more. He said he doesnt know what will happen yet with the purchased houses, but he tried to alleviate concerns that they will be abandoned.
We dont want them to be empty buildings where people go in there and drink 40-ouncers either, Shewmake said.
It has long been known there are toxic plumes in the soil at BNSFs fueling facility, caused by years of diesel and solvent seepage. The railway district neighborhood is adjacent to the fueling facility. But earlier this year, residents in the neighborhood began receiving calls from BNSF about purchasing their properties.
The companys refusal to fully explain its actions led residents to wonder if or to what extent the plumes had seeped into their neighborhoods. Some worried about their health and the future of their properties. In May, residents hired a high-profile Billings attorney to test for contamination.
While many in the crowd expressed gratitude for Shewmakes forthrightness on Tuesday, they made it clear that BNSFs secretive dealings have left residents frustrated and facing significant economic dilemmas. The railway district is considered a foremost engine in the towns future economic growth and a number of prominent entrepreneurs have set up shop there.
But the BNSF situation has put a halt to many plans in the district potential tenants and business partners dont want to move to a contaminated area where a large company is trying buy out the properties.
When asked what the company plans to do to erase the stigma the district has developed, Shewmake said the company is setting up a Web site that will explain the confusion of the past few months and make clear that the area is safe. The Web site will be called http://www.montana-remediation.info and should be live this week. Officials also are considering running ads in local newspapers to clear the air.
But several in the crowd wanted more. Mayor Mike Jenson said, since actions speak louder than words, BNSF should put the houses it has already purchased back on the market. He said that would restore some credibility. Rhonda Fitzgerald said the company should work closely with the city on the Web site. A Web site about pollution in the town, even if well intentioned, could be counterintuitive.
Youve literally killed that area and you have to do an awful lot more to regenerate that than run a few ads, said Jan Metzmaker, director of the Whitefish Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Perhaps the most vital project to be stalled is Bill Kahles much-anticipated Conductors Row development on OBrien and Railway avenues. Conductors Row is a mixed-use development with plans to integrate residential and commercial space.
In the past couple of months, however, potential tenants have changed their minds in response to BNSFs actions. Kahle told BNSF officials at the meeting that, while he appreciates the companys cooperation, he still intends to do his own toxicity testing of the site and hasnt ruled out litigation.
We either have a problem with contamination or the perception of contamination, Kahle said.
Richard Opper, director of DEQ, said a new project manager has been assigned to the site and there will be some testing this year. There will also be tests to gauge the amount of leakage in Whitefish River. In the meantime, residents like Kahle will continue to explore their options.
I dont know if I can afford to hold my breath while the cleanup happens, Kahle said.
BNSF comes clean in Whitefish, but residents skeptical about contamination
(The following story by Michael Jamison appeared on the Missoulian website on July 9, 2009.)
WHITEFISH, Mont. Four months ago, railroad officials began offering to buy homes in a trendy Whitefish neighborhood, discreetly suggesting the ground beneath might be contaminated.
On Tuesday, representatives for Burlington Northern Santa Fe admitted they have no evidence of contamination; rather, they were hoping the property purchases would help to limit future legal liabilities.
But you can't un-ring the bell once it's been rung, said Jan Metzmaker. They've done quite a bit of damage around here with this real estate play. People's livelihoods have been hurt, and we still don't know what to believe.
Metzmaker is director of the Whitefish Convention and Visitors Bureau, which keeps offices in Conductor's Row. The facility is mixed use - residential condos up top, commercial down below - and is located at the heart of the newly refurbished Railroad District neighborhood.
For years, city officials have encouraged investment to revitalize the neighborhood, identifying it as the obvious direction for downtown growth. That investment stalled, however, when BNSF representatives started approaching property owners - and then refused to say whom they were contacting or why, despite official requests from state regulators. Speculation ran rampant as several landowners sold out, but still the railroad offered no explanations.
It's no secret, of course, that the adjacent railyard is contaminated - diesel in the aquifer, chlorinated solvents in the ground water, metals in the soil. Cleanup has been ongoing since 1973.
And bear in mind, Metzmaker said, that plume is not in a holding tank. It's moving.
She doesn't entirely trust railroad maps that show the plume stopping, conveniently, at the company's property line.
It's a story repeated at BNSF sites statewide, with nearly two dozen railyards on Montana's top-priority cleanup list.
In fact, company officials said, legal opinions from those other sites - including a multimillion-dollar liability decision in 2007 - increased BNSF's financial exposure and spurred railroaders to contact Whitefish property owners.
Courts have concluded that BNSF can be held liable for expensive cleanups to neighboring properties, if contamination spreads.
The decision to make offers on Whitefish lands, railroad officials said, was not an attempt to avoid cleanup; instead, it was an attempt to manage our costs and risks during cleanup.
That answer, however, may prove too little and too late for at least some of the property owners. Bill Kahle, for instance, already has lost income due to the railroad's initial secrecy.
Kahle owns Conductor's Row, and had leases finalized for a new bakery on the ground floor, as well as a couple of residential condos upstairs. But then BNSF came knocking, he said, mentioning possible contamination, and of course we felt obliged to share that with the potential tenants.
The tenants chose to rent elsewhere.
Why, Kahle wonders, didn't the railroad admit up front that there was no contamination, and that the purchase offers were simply an attempt to reduce legal liability? If they had, he said, he could have rented his spaces without concern.
The secrecy, Kahle said, was the real problem.
Company spokesman Gus Melonas said the company did, in fact, tell the public there was no new data indicating contamination - but that just leaves landowners wondering why BNSF would mention contamination when making purchase inquiries.
Others shared experiences similar to Kahle's, and all now are wondering what sort of remedy BNSF might offer, if any.
That's a question we're trying to answer right now, Kahle said.
Another question is what to do about the stigma now attached to the Railroad District.
We have a reputation problem, Kahle said, and it's not necessarily of our making.
Officials at BNSF have launched a Web site - www.montana-remediation.info - to clear up confusion and to stress that the neighborhood is safe.
In addition, city officials and residents are discussing what sort of public relations message to send regarding the resort town's environmental health.
The lake, the river and the clean environment are our economic drivers, said local innkeeper Rhonda Fitzgerald. That's our brand. I really don't think BN has any idea how damaging their talk of contamination might be. The potential for harm here is huge.
Already, Metzmaker said, BNSF has pulled electrical service from the few properties it has purchased, and she fears the buildings will be left vacant or even torn down, leaving holes in an otherwise vibrant neighborhood.
Mayor Mike Jenson has asked the company to put the lots back up for sale.
If, in fact, what they say is true, and there is no contamination, then why not put the properties back on the market? Jenson asked. They say they don't want to be in the property management business, and nothing would demonstrate more clearly that the neighborhood really is clean.
The railroad, for its part, says on the Web site that it has made no decisions with regard to the properties we have acquired. BNSF also works and lives in Whitefish and has a vested interest in the Railroad District's economic viability.
The company also says that at this time, we may not make any additional property purchases in Whitefish. Frankly, some property values are too high for us to justify acquisition.
At least some of those who did not sell now are looking at third-party soil and water testing, to confirm BNSF's clean bill of health.
Absolutely, Mayor Jenson said. You will see some independent testing. That's for sure.
The city already has applied for a $50,000 state grant, he said, and private property owners are likewise initiating environmental tests.
Certainly, we have our concerns, Kahle said, and it's quite likely that we'll pursue some research of our own.
As will the state. We're looking for other resources, said Gov. Brian Schweitzer, who convened Tuesday's meeting, so that we can punch some new wells and see where we are up there.
Let's get the data, Schweitzer added. People deserve to know what's going on.
Richard Opper, director of Montana's Department of Environmental Quality, said a new site manager has been hired to oversee cleanup at the Whitefish railyard, and residents will see increased DEQ investigation into both the scope and the parameters of the contamination plume. There's a renewed commitment to the site, he said, and residents can expect better communication, he said, both from his agency and from BNSF.
Tuesday's meeting, Schweitzer said, marked a beginning for better relations.
I think BN was fairly frank that they had blown it in terms of public relations, Opper said, adding that he hoped Tuesday's meeting would spark a more open dialogue.
The residents who are right on the cusp of the plume are justifiably nervous, Opper said. We need to provide them some answers.
And not just any answers.
So far, Fitzgerald said, the railroad has been doing all the testing itself. What the community wants is the real answer, not the answer BNSF is providing.
