Park opposes North Fork paving

Glacier National Park superintendent Jeff Mow said last week he is not in favor of paving the North Fork Road to the Camas Road, a project strongly supported by Columbia Falls city officials.

The goal of paving the North Fork Road has been debated for years, but now Columbia Falls business and civic leaders are pitching the idea not only to boost tourist traffic through town but as an emergency route for West Glacier in case of a rail disaster.

City leaders told Sen. Jon Tester on March 20 that the Park supports paving the North Fork Road, but Mow disagreed.

“I’m all for Columbia Falls becoming a gateway community to Glacier,” Mow said . “But we’re not prepared for Camas to be a (main) entrance to Glacier.”

He noted the Camas Road isn’t designed for high traffic volumes — in some places it’s just chip seal over gravel. He said comments he made last year to the Columbia Falls Area Chamber of Commerce were misconstrued.

“I certainly didn’t say anything that I was in favor of paving the North Fork Road,” he said, noting that support of paving would amount to a major shift in management policy for the Park.

The Park remains concerned about the potential for a serious accident on the BNSF Railway line through West Glacier. The Park and other land management agencies continue to have high-level discussions with BNSF about rail safety and response to a rail disaster, particularly with regards to oil trains.

At least seven derailments have occurred between Bad Rock Canyon and East Glacier since 2004, according to Hungry Horse News archives. No one was injured in any of the accidents, and none involved oil trains.

The last derailment occurred in January 2013 when four engines left the tracks just west of West Glacier. There were no derailments in 2014, but avalanches crossed the tracks several times, and several dump truck size boulders blocked the tracks for about four hours on March 10.

Recently the Park and BNSF met with representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency, Forest Service, Flathead Basin Commission, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, and Flathead County to conduct “table top” modeling of a spill response and to further discuss prevention.

Another meeting is planned for later this year as BNSF and the agencies continue to a refine a geographical response plan that outlines responsibilities in the event of an emergency.

Practice drills have also been held in the field. Last summer, a contractor conducted a drill in which crews placed absorbent booms across the Middle Fork of the Flathead River just upstream from the Belton Bridge. The drill was successful, but it took a long time to complete.

“All of us are painfully aware it took 3.5 hours to get the boom up,” Mow said.

BNSF has been cooperative and has been working with the agencies. The company recently announced it will invest $124 million improving its Montana rail lines. Plans include replacing 14 miles of track and 51,000 railroad ties from Whitefish to Havre, BNSF spokesman Matt Jones said.

BNSF has also doubled the number of sensors installed along the tracks to scan passing rail cars for overheated bearings or other problems. Jones noted that the oil cars are owned by shipping contractors or leased by customers.

Mow is no stranger to oil spills. While working for the Park Service in Alaska, he dealt with the Exxon Valdez spill. He also worked on the Deepwater Horizon spill.

After the Exxon Valdez disaster, a citizens advisory council was formed that led to tougher protocols for oil tankers, and local fishermen were trained to respond to a spill. A similar model could work here, Mow suggested. But preventing a spill in the first place is the paramount goal.

“Prevention of an incident should be our No. 1 priority,” Mow said.

The Park Service continues to support extending snow sheds in the Middle Fork canyon to protect trains from avalanches, he noted.

BNSF has placed emergency equipment in strategic locations along the Park’s southern boundary, but Mow noted that one storage building was buried under snow this winter.

Flathead Basin Commission executive director Caryn Miske said her watchdog group remains concerned.

“There’s a lot of concern in the increase and number and length of trains,” she said. “That said, BNSF has had a willingness to talk.”

Like Mow, she said the focus should be on prevention as much as response.

“We think more can be done on the preventive end,” she said.