{"id":34295,"date":"2023-04-28T19:52:30","date_gmt":"2023-04-29T01:52:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/fight-against-railway-project-continues\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T11:13:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T11:13:22","slug":"fight-against-railway-project-continues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/fight-against-railway-project-continues\/","title":{"rendered":"Fight against railway project continues"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Rafting
Rafting on the Colorado River in Glenwood Canyon on Friday, July 8, 2022.<\/span>Hart Van Denburg\/CPR News<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A railway project in Eastern Utah is drawing significant pushback in Colorado as elected officials voice concerns about crude oil risks to the Colorado River, which is the West\u2019s primary freshwater river.<\/p>\n

The Uinta Basin Railway project would build around 80 miles of train tracks connecting oil production to America\u2019s rail network. That would allow producers to ship crude oil on trains through Colorado to refineries elsewhere in the country. The U.S. Surface Transportation Board and the United States Department of Agriculture have given the project the go-ahead, prompting a letter from U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse criticizing the federal review of the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst, it focused solely on the Project\u2019s risks in Utah with no evaluation of its potential harm to Colorado, including the risk of a derailment and oil spill in the headwaters of the River,\u201d the March 28 letter read. \u201cSecond, this review also failed to include any analysis of the Project\u2019s effect on greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. We urge you to conduct a supplemental review to fully account for these potential harms.\u201d<\/p>\n

Proponents say the crude oil\u2019s high wax content makes it safer to transport and that recent train derailments like one in East Palestine, Ohio, are obscuring the relative safety of shipping materials on trains. The dispute has brought into focus the challenges of shipping hydrocarbons and how to properly weigh potential risks to a river that serves 40 million people.<\/p>\n

\u2018A bunch of candles\u2019<\/div>\n

While opponents of the project note the catastrophic consequences of a major spill into the Colorado River, those working to get the rail built say the likelihood of contamination is overstated.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because the crude oil is high in paraffin wax content, which means it turns to a solid below about 110 degrees Fahrenheit, according to Keith Heaton, director of the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition in Utah that\u2019s advocating for the rail.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only times that the crude is a liquid is when it is heated and loaded into the railcars and when it is reheated back above the 110 degrees pour point, so it can be unloaded and processed,\u201d Heaton said in an email. \u201cIn short, Uinta Basin waxy crude is transported as a solid, not a flammable or hazardous liquid. It does not present an environmental concern if there were a derailment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Luis Zerpa, associate professor at the Colorado School of Mines Petroleum Engineering Department, says those waxy properties have historically been seen as a barrier to shipping that type of oil.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo that\u2019s the problem with the waxy oils is they have a lot of these paraffinic molecules or components \u2026 that create the petroleum jelly or the candles, that when the temperature decreases it will solidify,\u201d Zerpa said, adding that those properties make it very difficult to move the oil via a pipeline.<\/p>\n

However, what makes the crude oil difficult to ship, should make it easy to clean up \u2013 at least in the event of a spill. Heaton says the studies done on the rail estimate less than one derailment a year and, if there was an accident, cleanup would be like \u201cpicking up a bunch of candles.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the safest and most ecological way to transport material. And the material, the waxy crude that we have in the basin, is a much sought after and superior product in ways when it comes to environmental concerns and those types of things,\u201d Heaton said in a phone call with CPR News. \u201cI guess you could characterize it as a little bit perplexing from time to time that there\u2019s so much opposition to this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some opponents of the project have raised skepticism that the oil would be transported as a solid, and that it may retain some of its heat and therefore liquid form. Zerpa says in this case, if the train car did spill, the oil would drop below its melting point and solidify.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it gets into a cold water stream we would expect that it would solidify and then it probably would get into some of the banks of the river. But it will become a solid because, again, water and oil don\u2019t mix so it will become a solid, floating,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Glenwood
Glenwood Springs Mayor Jonathan Godes discusses the Uinta Basin Railway project during an April 7 press conference at the Grizzly Creek rest stop in Glenwood Canyon.<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Rest stop rally<\/div>\n

In early April, Bennet and Neguse joined local politicians in Glenwood Canyon to speak against the Uinta Basin project. One of those elected officials is Glenwood Springs Mayor Jonathan Godes. Standing along the banks of the Colorado River at the Grizzly Creek rest stop, Godes referenced several recent hazards to the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea of our administration allowing carbon, against everything they\u2019ve said, allowing carbon to be extracted contributing up to 1% of our carbon output per year to be coming from Utah going through this canyon \u2013 five trains, two-miles long, carrying highly flammable liquids. This canyon is a very fragile place. We\u2019ve had the Grizzly Creek fire. We\u2019ve had climate change-induced floods, rockslides. This winter we\u2019ve had I-70 shut down seemingly every day because of weather-related accidents,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Eagle County Commissioner Kathy Chandler-Henry echoed those sentiments, pointing to an oil drum set up next to the river as a prop.<\/p>\n

\u201cStanding next to this oil drum, on the banks of this river, just fills me with dread. Contamination from heavy crude oils is severe and long term,\u201d Chandler-Henry said. \u201cThese highly toxic materials are extremely difficult to remove once they have spilled. And we know from experience that spills are going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bennet pushed back on the suggestion that the Uinta Basin oil is significantly safer for transportation, particularly given the risk of contamination to the river. Hazardous materials are already being transported on rail through Glenwood Canyon, but Bennet said that was no reason to further imperil the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf completed, the project would send, as the mayor says, five two-mile long trains full of waxy crude oil through our state every single day \u2013 4.6 billion gallons of oil per year,\u201d Bennet said. \u201cIt would travel over 100 miles along the headwaters of the Colorado River \u2013 the most geographically important part of our state. The lifeblood of the American West itself. The water supply for nearly 40 million Americans, 30 tribal nations, millions of acres of agricultural lands that\u2019s already struggling with the drought we\u2019re experiencing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others in attendance included Colorado state Sen. Dylan Roberts, Speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives Julie McCluskie and State Rep. Elizabeth Velasco. Opposition to the project is not universal. Some Garfield County Commissioners have signaled support for it.<\/p>\n

The train would run along the river in a large portion of U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert\u2019s district. The Garfield County Republican has been critical of the Biden Administration amid recent train derailments but is outspoken in her support for oil and gas.<\/p>\n

Her office did not respond to repeated requests for comments for this story.<\/p>\n

In an email, a spokesperson for Gov. Jared Polis said: \u201cThe Governor continues to share a number of the concerns that our Colorado communities and Colorado’s recreation and tourism industry have raised with the proposal. He continues to monitor this issue and evaluate the state\u2019s role given largely federal actions to date.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other options<\/div>\n

Uinta Basin oil is presently being transported by truck, largely within Utah, says Heaton. According to an analysis conducted by the Congressional Research Service, oil shipments via truck pose more risk for spillage than do shipments by trains. Similarly, pipelines result in more oil spills than rail traffic.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile oil by rail has demonstrated benefits with respect to the efficient movement of oil from producing regions to market hubs, it has also raised significant concerns about transportation safety and potential impacts to the environment. The most recent data available indicate that railroads consistently spill less crude oil per ton-mile transported than other modes of land transportation,\u201d the report says.<\/p>\n

What the report also makes clear, however, is that where an oil spill occurs is more significant than the total volume spilled. That\u2019s something Bennet keyed in on when answering a question about the issue at his stop in Glenwood Canyon.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this train has no business bringing this oil from Utah, through Colorado, period,\u201d he said. \u201cPeriod. Anybody who has spent any time in this canyon understanding what the risks really are, what these mudslides really look like, what these fires really look like. I\u2019d be surprised if you could persuade 99.2% of the people that have any knowledge that this would be a good idea with any safety restrictions in place and that\u2019s the position that we\u2019re all going to take.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the same time, Bennet pushed back on the idea that their opposition had to do with wanting to restrict extractive industries.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis state is an energy producer of fossil fuels and non-fossil fuels. There\u2019s a lot of stories that are told about what\u2019s happened to the production of fossil fuels in this country,\u201d he said. \u201cThe reality is that they\u2019re at the same levels, essentially, they were before Joe Biden became president. Our exports are at a higher level than they\u2019ve ever been. We\u2019re producing more fossil fuels today, almost by a factor of two, than we were when I went to the Senate 14 years ago. So the idea that we\u2019d be treating that as somehow an excuse for wanting to put this beautiful river and this fragile valley at peril, I think is a real mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n

What happens now<\/div>\n

The project faces years of construction once it gets full approval, which Bennet and others in Colorado are trying to stop.<\/p>\n

Eagle County has signed on to a lawsuit regarding approval of the effort and Bennet says there are many avenues by which the Biden administration might halt the development of Uinta Basin rail.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s been decided yet,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Department of Agriculture, I think mistakenly, decided that they weren\u2019t going to stop this project. There\u2019s an opportunity for us to stop it with (the) EPA, there\u2019s an opportunity to stop it with the Department of Transportation. And I\u2019m not in the habit of overpromising, ever. But I really do believe that if we keep pushing, in the end, we\u2019re going to persuade them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rafting on the Colorado River in Glenwood Canyon on Friday, July 8, 2022.Hart Van Denburg\/CPR News A railway project in Eastern Utah is drawing significant pushback in Colorado as elected officials voice concerns about crude oil risks to the Colorado River, which is the West\u2019s primary freshwater river. The Uinta Basin Railway project would build […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34296,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-34295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines"],"acf":[],"author_name":"Website Administrator","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34295"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34295\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34299,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34295\/revisions\/34299"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34295"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=34295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}