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uinta basin railway
US Appeals Court Halts 'Climate Bomb' Oil Rail Project Over Environmental Concerns
"This is an enormous victory for our shared climate, the Colorado River and the communities that rely on it for clean water, abundant fish and recreation," said one campaigner.
Aug 18, 2023
U.S. Green groups and some Democratic politicians on Friday celebrated a federal appellate court's ruling that pauses the development of the Uinta Basin Railway, a project that would connect Utah's oil fields to the national railway network.
"The court's rejection of this oil railway and its ensuing environmental damage is a victory for the climate, public health, and wild landscapes," said WildEarth Guardians legal director Samantha Ruscavage-Barz. "The public shouldn't have to shoulder the costs of the railway's environmental degradation while the fossil fuel industry reaps unprecedented profits from dirty energy."
Although the ruling does not necessarily permanently block the project—which would cut through tribal land and a national forest—Carly Ferro, executive director of the Utah Sierra Club, similarly called the decision "a win for communities across the West and is critical for ensuring a sustainable climate future."
"From its onset, this project's process has been reckless and egregious. But today, the people and the planet prevailed," Ferro added. "We will continue to advocate for accountable processes to ensure a healthy environment where communities can live safely, and this win will help make that possible."
A coalition of advocacy groups and Eagle County, Colorado launched legal challenges to the project last year. Ruling on the consolidated case Friday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit vacated the Surface Transportation Board's (STB) December 2021 approval of the railway, along with the federal agency's related environmental impact statement (EIS) as well as a biological opinion (BiOp) from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The panel found "numerous" violations of the National Environmental Policy Act "arising from the EIS, including the failures to: (1) quantify reasonably foreseeable upstream and downstream impacts on vegetation and special-status species of increased drilling in the Uinta Basin and increased oil train traffic along the Union Pacific Line, as well as the effects of oil refining on environmental justice communities the Gulf Coast; (2) take a hard look at wildfire risk as well as impacts on water resources downline; and (3) explain the lack of available information on local accident risk" in accordance with federal law, wrote Judge Robert Wilkins. "The EIS is further called into question since the BiOp failed to assess impacts on the Colorado River fishes downline."
As the The Colorado Sunreported Friday:
The Surface Transportation Board argued it did not have jurisdiction to address or enforce mitigation of impacts outside the 88-mile rail corridor.
The appeals court ordered the Surface Transportation Board to redo its environmental review of the project. But the court did not agree with Eagle County and the environmental groups led by the Center for Biological Diversity that the Uinta Basin Railway could lead to the opening of the long-dormant Tennessee Pass Line between Dotsero and Cañon City.
The court also did not wholly agree that the transportation board failed to adequately consider the climate impacts of burning the new crude, which could increase pollution and account for 1% of the nation's greenhouse gas emissions.
Still, the Center for Biological Diversity celebrated the decision, with senior campaigner Deeda Seed saying that "this is an enormous victory for our shared climate, the Colorado River, and the communities that rely on it for clean water, abundant fish, and recreation."
"The Uinta Basin Railway is a dangerous, polluting boondoggle that threatens people, wildlife, and our hope for a livable planet," Seed added. "The Biden administration needs to dismantle this climate bomb and throw it in the trash can where it belongs."
U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and Congressman Joe Neguse, both Colorado Democrats, also welcomed the ruling in a joint statement.
"This ruling is excellent news," the pair said. "The approval process for the Uinta Basin Railway Project has been gravely insufficient, and did not properly account for the project's full risks to Colorado's communities, water, and environment. A new review must account for all harmful effects of this project on our state, including potential oil spills along the Colorado River and increased wildfire risk."
"An oil train derailment in the headwaters of the Colorado River would be catastrophic—not only to Colorado, but the 40 million Americans who rely on it," they added. "We're grateful for the leadership of Eagle County and the many organizations and local officials around Colorado who made their voices heard."
Speaking to Real Vail on Friday, Eagle County attorney Bryan Treu pointed to a Norfolk Southern that was carrying hazardous material when it derailed and burned in East Palestine, Ohio in February—an incident that has since fueled calls across the country for boosting rail safety rules and blocking projects like the Uinta Basin Railway.
"It seems like we read every month this last year about a derailment somewhere," said Treu. "So there's a lot to look at that. The circumstances have changed, and as this goes back to the Surface Transportation Board, they're going to be looking at all those things."
Reutersreported that while the STB declined to comment, "a spokesperson for the project—a public-private partnership that includes the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition, investor DHIP Group, and rail operator Rio Grande Pacific Corp—said developers are 'ready, willing, and capable of working' with regulators during additional reviews."
Meanwhile, some locals hope Friday's ruling is a step toward killing the project. Jonny Vasic, executive director for Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, said that "the people of Utah can breathe a sigh of relief. Hopefully this is the beginning of the end for the Uinta Basin Railway."
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Montana Train Derailment Raises Fears of Similar Disasters on Proposed Uinta Basin Railway
The Stillwater County, Montana sheriff's office said it was a "great stroke of luck" that none of the train cars were carrying oil that would have polluted the Yellowstone River.
Jun 25, 2023
A freight train derailment and the collapse of a bridge over the Yellowstone River in Montana on Saturday raised alarm as several cars carrying asphalt and molten sulfur tumbled into the river, prompting officials to take emergency measures at nearby water plants.
The incident also brought to mind for some critics the Biden administration's plan to move forward with a railway project along the Colorado River—one that could place the drinking water of 40 million people at risk as trains transport crude oil from eastern Utah's Uinta Basin to national rail lines.
The substances solidified quickly once exposed to the cold water in the Yellowstone River on Saturday, and Stillwater County emergency services chief David Stamey told The New York Times that the solidification could limit the potential harmful effects to the environment.
Sulfur is commonly used as an insecticide, fungicide, and rodenticide, and is often used in fertilizers.
As a precaution, water treatment plant officials in Yellowstone and Stillwater Counties temporarily shut down water intake until the material had flowed past Billings, which lies about an hour's drive east of the derailment site. Authorities also asked residents to conserve water. About 167,000 people live in Yellowstone County while roughly 9,000 people live in Stillwater.
The freight train was operated by Montana Rail Link, whose spokesperson told the Times that two cars were also carrying sodium hydro sulfate, which can cause serious eye damage on exposure.
"Neither of these cars have entered the water and initial air quality assessments have been performed and confirmed that there is no release associated with the two cars," the railroad said in a statement.
Ten cars in total derailed, the Times reported.
Montana Rail Link said no one was injured in the accident.
Robert Bea, a retired engineering professor at the University of California Berkeley, told the Associated Press that recent heavy rains may have played a role in the collapse of the bridge.
"The high water flow translates to high forces acting directly on the pier and, importantly, on the river bottom," Bea told the outlet. "You can have erosion or scour that removes support from the foundation. High forces translate to a high likelihood of a structural or foundation failure that could act as a trigger to initiate the accident."
The cause of the derailment and collapse are being investigated.
To Ted Zukoski, a senior attorney in the Center for Biological Diversity's public lands program, the accident raised concerns about similar potential disasters along the Uinta Basin Railway, which could carry as many as five two-mile-long crude oil trains more than 100 miles each day alongside the Colorado River's headwaters.
“For about 100 miles of the railroad, it is close enough to the river that if you're sitting in a raft in the middle of it, you could throw a rock and hit the railroad, Zukoski told Lever News last month.
As Democratic Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper and Rep. Joe Neguse, all of Colorado, told U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in a letter earlier this year urging him to oppose the project, the public-private alliance behind the Uinta Basin Railway appears to have "no plan to mitigate the harm of a potential accident or derailment in Colorado, which could be particularly difficult to address given [Colorado's] mountainous terrain."
In addition to worsening the climate crisis by supporting the increased production of 350,000 barrels of oil per day, the Utah Clean Infrastructure Coalition has said in a fact sheet on the project, "the heavy, long oil tanker trains used to transport crude oil pose greater risks of derailment and spills than other freight trains, and an increased risk of fire due to derailment and spilling of combustible oil."
In Montana on Saturday, the Stillwater County Sheriff's office said it was a "great stroke of luck" that none of the train cars were carrying oil that would have polluted the Yellowstone.
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Buttigieg Urged to Block Federal Funding for 'Carbon Bomb' Railway Along Colorado River
"The project could result in as many as five, two-mile-long crude-oil trains running over 100 miles directly alongside the headwaters of the Colorado River each day," Colorado Democrats warned.
Mar 10, 2023
With the toxic train derailment in eastern Ohio still in the national spotlight, Democratic members of Colorado's congressional delegation are imploring U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to do everything he can to head off another potential railway disaster—one that could impact a river that supplies drinking water to 40 million Americans.
In a letter to Buttiegieg on Thursday, Sens. Michael Bennet, John Hickenlooper, and Rep. Joe Neguse warned the secretary against approving a key federal funding mechanism for the Uinta Basin Railway, a project that aims to connect eastern Utah's oil-rich Uinta Basin with the national rail system in order to massively expand fossil fuel production in the region.
"The additional risks posed by this project—including those raised by Colorado communities concerned by the potential for a train derailment along the headwaters of the Colorado River—give cause for caution in using taxpayer funds to support the project, and have gained new urgency in the wake of the East Palestine disaster," the lawmakers wrote.
"If successful, the project could result in as many as five, two-mile-long crude-oil trains running over 100 miles directly alongside the headwaters of the Colorado River each day. Many Colorado communities have raised concerns about the potential harm of railway accidents to water quality, wildlife, and wildfire risk," they continued. "However, our review of the project found no plan to mitigate the harm of a potential accident or derailment in Colorado, which could be particularly difficult to address given our state’s mountainous terrain."
The Colorado Democrats sent the letter a day after a CSX train derailed in West Virginia, dumping a yet-to-be-determined amount of diesel fuel into one of North America's oldest rivers. More than 1,000 trains derail each year in the U.S., where powerful rail giants have used their vast resources to fight off and weaken safety regulations.
In their letter, the lawmakers specifically urged Buttigieg to deny the Uinta Basin Railway project access to tax-exempt private activity bonds (PABs). On Thursday, Utah's Seven County Infrastructure Coalition—part of the public-private alliance that controls the project—formally approved a request asking the Transportation Department to authorize up to $2 billion worth of PABs, without which the project may struggle to advance as its costs balloon.
The PABs could cover an estimated 70% of the project's expenses.
"The Department of Transportation has generally issued PABs for passenger rail and highway improvements: projects that provide a clear public transportation benefit," the Colorado Democrats noted in their letter. "There is no precedent for using PABs to fund a rail project solely to transport crude oil."
If Buttigieg ignores the warnings of lawmakers, local residents, and environmentalists and approves issuance of the bonds, the Democratic congressmen wrote, "this would not only constitute the largest PAB the DOT has ever issued; it would also irretrievably sink taxpayer dollars into a project that has proven unable to contain its own costs."
"The fact that we continue to have disasters like East Palestine and near misses over and over again is a regulatory failure that demonstrates the absolute power of railroad industry lobbying."
On top of the potential costs to taxpayers, climate advocates have been arguing for more than a year that the Uinta Basin Railway poses a major threat to U.S. efforts to combat the climate crisis. The Center for Biological Diversity has dubbed the project "one of the nation's biggest carbon bombs," noting that it could quadruple oil production in Utah's Uinta Basin.
"The railway will spur an increase of up to 350,000 barrels a day, amounting to up to 53 million tons of annual carbon pollution—as much or more than what’s produced by the nation’s three largest power plants," the group said last June. "Sending tens of millions of barrels of crude oil each year from Utah to the Houston area for refining would be equivalent to adding a new refinery to the region, which already exceeds national pollution standards."
The Surface Transportation Board, an independent federal agency, approved construction of the new rail line for the Uinta Basin project in December 2021. Months later, the U.S. Forest Service gave its approval, drawing legal action from a coalition of environmental organizations.
Kristen Boyles, a managing attorney at Earthjustice, toldThe Guardian on Thursday that "it will be a triumph of corporate greed" if the project is ultimately allowed to move forward.
"The fact that we continue to have disasters like East Palestine and near misses over and over again is a regulatory failure that demonstrates the absolute power of railroad industry lobbying," Boyles said.
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