LIVINGSTON (AP)
Gov. Brian Schweitzer toured a new $4 million water treatment plant built to clean diesel from groundwater near the rail yard here. "There's been a lot of activity since I was here last," Schweitzer said Tuesday. "Now we're on the verge of moving a lot of water." Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway is responsible for the cleanup of diesel and solvents spilled or dumped during decades of railroad operations, contaminating groundwater. The company has spent nearly $20 million on cleanup projects in Livingston since the late 1980s, said railroad spokesman Gus Melonas. About half that money has been spent in the past 18 months. In March 2006, Schweitzer told the company the state was done negotiating a cleanup plan. He said t h e s t a t e De p a r tme n t o f Environmental Quality would contract the work and bill BNSF. Since then, the railroad has drilled about 20 new wells and built the water treatment plant, designed to filter oil from the water and discharge the clean water into the Yellowstone River. Other plans call for injecting neutralizing chemicals into areas where there are solvents to help them decompose and stop spreading into the groundwater, said Aimee Reynolds, project manager for DEQ. Reynolds said she hopes to have the extent of the pollution fully ma p p e d a n d t h e c l e a n u p mechanisms in place within five years. Last month, the city of Livingston and about 100 individuals and businesses filed a lawsuit against the railroad, alleging pollution seeped from railroad land to other properties. Melonas wouldn't comment on the lawsuit. Schweitzer said he's glad to see the cleanup moving ahead. "It's a greater challenge, but we're moving in the right direction," he said.
