SANDPOINT, Idaho — The U.S. Coast Guard has issued a favorable ruling for BNSF Railway’s efforts to build a second set of bridges on its main line near Sandpoint, a plan which has been fought by some local residents.The Coast Guard — which has jurisdiction because the bridge is over a navigable waterway — has issued “a finding of no significant impact” for the planned bridges over Sand Creek and Lake Pend Orielle, ruling an appropriate environmental assessment had been completed. It had asked for public comment on the project earlier this year. [See “Coast Guard seeking comments on BNSF bridge proposal in the Pacific Northwest,” Trains News Wire, Jan. 14, 2019.]
BNSF wants to build the bridge to ease a single-track bottleneck through the Sandpoint area.
Opponents, including Sandpoint Mayor Shelby Rognstad, are concerned the project will increase rail traffic and have voiced concerns about increased coal dust and potential damage to water quality from derailments, the Associated Press reports. The Coast Guard found the potential for traffic growth is influenced by market factors unrelated to the bridge.
The Bonner County Daily Bee reports that Helen Yost, a spokesman for environmental group Wild Idaho Rising Tide, issued a statement saying the Coast Guard decision “promotes ongoing industry excuses for BNSF’s $100 million gamble with the regional and global health and safety of air, water, climate, and economies, while ignoring and dismissing myriad citizen concerns about this railroad invasion of a significant North Idaho aquatic ecosystem.”
