The planned Uinta-Becken-Bahn would have “significant effects on the environment”, the federal authority finds | News, sports, jobs

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A vehicle’s tire rim lies between railroad tracks near the Union Pacific Railroad’s Provo Yard on Thursday, April 23, 2020. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald

Isaac Hale, Daily Herald

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Railroad tracks merge near the Union Pacific Railroad’s Provo Yard on Thursday, April 23, 2020. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald

Isaac Hale, Daily Herald

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A planned railroad to transport crude oil through the Uinta Basin would have “significant environmental impacts,” ranging from loss of wetlands to increased noise, according to a recently issued Environmental Impact Statement.

The Seven County Infrastructure Coalition is proposing the construction of the approximately 85-mile-long Uinta Basin Railway – a single-track rail line that would run through Counties of Utah, Uintah, Carbon, and Duchesne – according to the Environmental Impact Statement issued on October 30th by the Office of Environmental Analysis of the US Surface Transportation Board.

The railway line would be connected to the national rail network and used primarily for the transport of “crude oil produced in the basin”, wrote OEA director Victoria Rutson in a letter in which she outlined the environmental impact statement. It could also be used to “move frac sand, other support material, steel, machinery, or mineral and agricultural products and raw materials in and out of the basin”.

The proposed rail line would extend from two endpoints near South Myton Bench in Duchesne County and Leland Bench in Uintah County to a connection with a Union Pacific Railroad line near Kyune, Utah County.

“Depending on future market conditions, an average of between 3.68 and 10.52 trains per day could move on the planned rail route, both loaded and unloaded,” wrote Rutson on Monday.

The 500-page draft environmental impact statement describes the Uinta Basin as “an isolated geographic region that stretches from northeast Utah to northwest Colorado, is surrounded by high mountains and plateaus, and has limited access to transportation infrastructure.”

The OEA has identified a number of environmental problems with the proposed railroad, including its effects on surface water and wetlands.

“The construction and operation of the planned railway line, if approved, would lead to inevitable effects on surface water and wetlands, including the loss of wetlands and permanent changes in surface water hydrology through crossing structures and the relocation of streams,” says the environmental impact statement.

The environmental impact statement outlined three “alternative courses of action” for the planned railway line as well as one non-alternative course of action. Action alternatives include the Indian Canyon Alternative, Wells Draw Alternative, and Whitmore Park Alternative.

Each of the action alternatives “would traverse a suitable habitat for several plant species listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act, including Pariette Cactus, Uinta Basin Hooked Cactus, Barneby Ridge Cress, and Ute Dame Bar,” so to the environmental impact statement.

The OEA said it was consulting the US Fish and Wildlife Service to determine “appropriate measures to prevent, minimize or mitigate the impact on these species” but noted that “some impacts would be inevitable”.

The alternatives would also traverse habitats and leks or mating areas of the greater sage grouse, a species of bird administered by state and federal wildlife agencies.

“Depending on the action alternative, some of these leks could experience a significant increase in noise during construction and rail operations, which would disturb the birds and potentially cause them to leave the leks,” the statement said.

The OEA also identified “line noise” as problematic and stated that with rail traffic at the highest forecast level, 10.52 trains per day, “up to six residential units would experience an increase in noise that would experience an increase in noise “. Depending on the alternative action, this would exceed the threshold values ​​of the Committee for Adverse Noise Effects. “

The Indian Canyon alternative would result in the highest levels of noise pollution, according to the OEA, which recommended that the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition “install soundproofing in homes that could experience adverse noise pollution”.

“Based on the analysis in the EIS draft, the OEA concludes that building and operating any of the alternatives would have a significant environmental impact,” wrote Rutson.

The Environmental Impact Statement also identified potential socio-economic impacts on the local economy, including “beneficial effects such as job creation for construction and operation and maintenance personnel and increased local tax revenues”.

“Adverse socio-economic impacts would include the acquisition and relocation of residential and non-residential buildings on private land and the segregation of land, which could reduce their value through pasture, agriculture and other economic uses,” the OEA wrote.

The OEA concluded that of the three courses of action, the Whitmore Park alternative would “have the least significant impact on the environment” and found that it “sustains the smallest area of ​​water resources, including wetlands and perennial streams would affect; would minimize the impact on larger sage leks and associated summer hatching habitat; and would avoid the impact on subdivided residential areas. “

For these reasons, if the board decides to approve the construction and operation of the proposed railway line, OEA tentatively recommends that the board approve the Whitmore Park alternative in order to minimize the environmental impact of the construction and operation, ”it says the environmental impact statement.

The OEA will hold public online meetings to discuss the proposed projects, including a meeting on Monday from 6pm to 8pm. The other public sessions are scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday.

Residents can visit http://www.uintabasinrailwayeis.com to register to attend or to provide verbal comments on any of the online meetings. The comment period ends on December 14th.