Railroads continue to claim that they are an efficient and environmentally sound mode of transporting goods across the country. Yet, those same railroad operators fail to comply with local, state and federal environmental rules and then hide behind a cloak of secrecy in shielding their environmentally destructive actions from the public.
In Vancouver’s Lincoln neighborhood, BNSF Railway is spewing emissions into the air, refusing to disclose the content of them and asserting exemption from environmental laws (“ ‘Pollutants’ from BNSF locomotives in rail yard called ‘outrageous’ …,” The Columbian, April 24).
Portland Vancouver Junction Railroad, like BNSF, has destroyed the environment and scoffs at any attempts to regulate or curtail their destructive actions while claiming to be able to use eminent domain to take property and turn it into an industrial wasteland along the entire 33 miles of rail line. Yet, county officials seem content to wring their hands and tell us that the railroad will eventually comply, the new industry will be an economic boon and no one will be harmed. County councilors are spewing those unsubstantiated claims like BNSF is spewing the pollutants into Vancouver’s air. Both should be stopped. We are watching, and we vote!
