Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumUinta Basin Railway Is An Oil-Train Fantasy; Still, It's Excuse Enough To Let SCOTUS Go After Key Environmental Law
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Wildcat speculators, big oil companies, and state officials alike have been salivating over the Uinta Basins rich oil deposits for years, yet theyve never been able to fully exploit them. The oil in the basin is a waxy crude that must be heated to 115 degrees to remain liquid, a problem that ruled out an earlier attempt to build a pipeline. The Seven County Infrastructure Coalition, a quasi-governmental organization consisting of the major oil-, gas-, and coal-producing counties in Utah, has received $28 million in public funding to plan and promote the railway as a way around this obstacle. The coalition is one of the petitioners in the Supreme Court case.
We dont have a freeway into the Uinta Basin, Mike McKee, the coalitions former executive director, told me back in 2022. Its just that we have high mountains around us, so its been challenging. Of course, there is no major highway from the basin for the same reason that the railway has never been built: The current two-lane road from Salt Lake City crests a peak thats almost 10,000 feet above sea level, which is too high for a train to go over. So the current railway plan calls for tunneling through the mountain. But going through it may be just as treacherous as going over it. Inside the unstable mountain rock are pockets of explosive methane and other gases, not all of which have been mapped.
None of this deterred the Seven County coalition from notifying the federal Surface Transportation Board, or STB, in 2019 that it intended to apply for a permit for the railway. The following year, the board started the environmental review process, including taking comments from the public. In December 2021, the STB found that the railways transportation merits outweighed its significant environmental effects. It approved the railway, despite noting that the hazards from tunneling could potentially cause injury or death, both in the railways construction and operation. It recommended that the coalition conduct some geoengineering studies, which it had not done.
Among the many issues the board failed to consider when it approved the project was the impact of the additional 18 miles of oil train cars that the railway would add to the Union Pacific line going through Colorado, including Eagle County, home to the ski town of Vail. Along with creating significant risks of wildfires, the additional trains would run within feet of the Colorado River, where the possibility of regular oil spills could threaten the drinking water for 40 million people. The deficiencies in the STBs environmental impact statement prompted environmentalists to ask the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to review the STB decision, as did Eagle County.
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https://grist.org/transportation/oil-train-supreme-court-nepa-major-environmental-law/
Vogon_Glory
(9,596 posts)Last edited Mon Dec 23, 2024, 10:42 AM - Edit history (3)
There actually was a rail line in the Uintah Basin back in the day. It was called the Uintah Railway and was abandoned in 1939. It hauled Gilsonite.
Also, unlike the far more volatile oil from the Bakken fields, Uintah basin petroleum is goopy and less likely to make a big mess in case of a derailment.
Furthermore, the route where those trains would run are along an established rail route that saw heavy rail traffic for decades (yes, I said DECADES) since its construction in the 1880s. Admittedly the route hasnt seen much use in the last 20 years or so, but thats because the Union Pacific shifted much of its traffic north to its Wyoming main line. The track remained there in case the railroad decided to put it back into use.
I have little sympathy for the NIMBYs making a hue and cry about the resumption of rail service. I suspect that most of them moved in after the UP rail-banked its Tennessee Pass rail line. I doubt most real estate buyers bought their properties sight unseen and had ample occasion to see that the Choo-choo tracks were still in place. They had ample time to think through the implications and to realize that the train tracks might be put back into use. Its like buying a house downstream from a crumbling dam: a potential risk they shouldnt have ignored.
EDIT: Buying sight unseen is a little more difficult these days.
While Im still on a tear about NIMBYs buying real estate with certain annoyances (Like choo-choo train noises), I would point out that real estate buyers with the means to buy real estate along the former Denver and Rio Grande Westerns Tennessee Pass/Royal Gorge route also have the means and opportunity to access 3 D maps that show the terrain where theyd be buying. I just accessed maps of Eagle, Colorado and Minturn, Colorado using (Strudles) map function.the train tracks are quite visible.
mahatmakanejeeves
(61,588 posts)Wed Dec 11, 2024: Supreme Court seems likely to narrow environmental reviews for projects
Thu Oct 31, 2024: Eastern Utah wants an oil railroad. Nation's highest court will decide how feds should judge its environmental impact.
Sat Jun 29, 2024: Gee, What Next? SCOTUS To Consider Appeal Of Decision Blocking Utah Oil Trains Along Colorado River
Wed Apr 10, 2024: Utah, trade groups ask Supreme Court to review oil rail line
Mon Feb 5, 2024: Group wants to use taxpayer money to bring Utah oil railroad controversy to the Supreme Court
Tue Aug 29, 2023: After Court Rejects Approval, What's Next For Uinta Basin Railway?
Sat Aug 19, 2023: Appeals court strikes down Utah oil railroad approval, siding with environmentalists
Sun Jul 30, 2023: Moffat Tunnel lease could become part of fight over Uinta Basin Railway
Sat Mar 11, 2023: Oh, Good Idea! Let's Run Oil Trains For More Than 100 Miles Along The Colorado River!