Freight trains impact on economy, environment discussed

Only a few people in North Idaho live outside earshot of the train whistles. Those who do either love them, hate them, or possibly best case, have become ear-deaf to them. Lately, the people who reside near the north end of Lake Pend Oreille and the east side of the river hear the sound of trains augmented by the sound of pile-drivers building the second rail bridge.

When BNSF announced plans to relieve rail traffic by adding the new bridge, there were considerable opinions bantered around, some positive, some not so much. With a few of those concerns on my mind, I contacted Courtney Wallace, senior director, external communications for BNSF Railway. Here is our email conversation:

KH: What is the projected date of completion for the new bridge across Lake Pend Oreille? Is it on time? Have there been delays, if so, why? 


CW: We anticipate the project will take three to five years to complete. We’re pleased with the progress we’re making with the Sandpoint Junction Connector.

KH: I know that there was considerable controversy about the second bridge. How did BNSF decide to build the bridge? What, if anything, did BNSF do to mitigate its strongest opponents’ fears?


CW: The Sandpoint Junction Connector went through a significant permitting process, which included multiple opportunities for public comment. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) provides for federal agencies to complete an Environmental Assessment (EA) with the purpose of determining whether there will be significant environmental impacts from a project.

After conducting a robust and comprehensive review of the project, with more than a year of process and studies supporting the EA, the U.S. Coast Guard made a finding of no significant impact (FONSI) on August 29, 2019.  Here are a few examples of the protocols built into the project that protects our crews, the community and the environment:

Environmental protection is a critical part of the project, and is built into the EA. Jacobs Engineering, one of our professional consultants, has an onsite manager that solely focuses on environmental permit compliance. Our contractors’ other site managers are certified to various levels of environmental compliance.

Project-specific environmental protection plans for various actions and potential impacts have been developed and submitted to agencies. These plans are “Living Documents,” compliant with environmental permit requirements and commitments, but able to be easily adapted/managed to respond to changing conditions typical of a large construction project. 

To minimize impacts to fish, BNSF will use bubble curtains to reduce sound pressure impacts to bull trout, and floating silt containment/turbidity curtains to contain sediment to avoid excedances of state water quality standards.

The second bridge over Lake Pend Oreille is designed to have fewer piers than the existing bridge and would align approximately with every other pier of existing bridge, thereby minimizing amount of underwater structures.

The temporary work trestles will not extend across the entire lake, thus resulting in less in-water work, less piles driven into the lake, and less shading of the lake in the work zone. 

KH: I have seen different figures. Is there an increase in rail traffic expected in the next year? What types of materials are most likely to be transported?


CW: BNSF plays an important role in moving freight across the nation every day. Our customers ship consumer goods, industrial products including construction and building materials, agricultural commodities, energy products and various other freight on our railroad. And while the world around us changed last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our important freight delivery mission did not and ultimately showcased the dependability of our people and operations.

BNSF had expected to achieve modest freight volume improvements heading into 2020 but the pandemic caused the economy and freight environment to deteriorate in a very short period of time. BNSF volumes began falling in the first quarter of the year and this trend accelerated as the COVID-19 economic shutdown became widespread heading into the summer.

A freight rebound began in the summer and we saw significant volume improvement during the second half of the year, led mainly by our Consumer Products business. Lower international intermodal and automotive volumes in the first three quarters were offset by higher domestic intermodal volumes, which ultimately reached record levels for the year on our railroad. Increased retail sales, retail inventory replenishments, and e-commerce activity drove the second half recovery.

We also saw strong demand in our grain export business while softness in U.S. industrial production and lower coal demand driven by reduced electricity demand, low natural gas prices and other factors (including the continued structural decline of coal) contributed to overall BNSF volumes being down 7% compared to 2019.

KH: There are many reports about how much more efficient rail transport is over truck transport. What level is BNSF's commitment to the environment and is there a plan for the effects of climate change on the rails and rail bridges?

CW: Steel wheels on steel rail is the most sustainable way to move goods long distances over land. On average a U.S. freight train can move one ton of freight more than 470 miles on just one gallon of diesel fuel, making rail three or four times more fuel efficient than trucks and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

At BNSF we know that environmental issues and specifically carbon reduction play an ever more important role in the transportation choices our customers are making. Shipping by rail can be part of an effective strategy to achieve significant carbon emissions savings and BNSF has developed a tool to aid our customers in quantifying the environmental benefits of rail by estimating the carbon footprint for their shipments on our railroad.

The carbon estimator tool can also be used to calculate the reduction of a potential customer’s carbon footprint should they choose to incorporate BNSF into their transportation supply chain.

BNSF’s intermodal customers reduced their carbon emissions by roughly 7.5 million metric tons in 2019 and as shown in the graph below, BNSF has helped our customers and the nation avoid more than 80 million metric tons of CO2e over the past decade. This is the equivalent of removing more than 17 million passenger vehicles off the road.