Ten of the Terrible Truths Behind the Northwestern Pacific Railroad

The Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC) has grave concerns about the plan to reconstruct the northern portion of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad (NWP). This section of the railroad runs immediately adjacent to the entire length of the Eel River and portions of Humboldt Bay and the Russian River. Even more alarming, the railroad would traverse some of the most geologically unstable areas on earth.

The Northwestern Pacific Railroad has triggered massive landslides since it was first constructed, leading to extensive damage to the water quality of these areas and the birds, fish and other native species that rely on them. In 1998, the railroad had more than 208 damaged sites along 216 miles, and the entire line became the first and only railroad to be officially closed by the Federal Railroad Authority. The North Coast Railroad Authority (NCRA) is now attempting to reconstruct and reopen the northern portion of the line to export logs and gravel from Humboldt and Mendocino counties. Based on our review of numerous reports, scientific studies and other analyses, EPIC believes this plan poses serious threats to the native species, rivers and streams on the North Coast. A brief summary of some of these documents and our findings, "Ten Terrible Truths behind the Northwestern Pacific Railroad," are as follows:

1. The geologically unstable Eel River Canyon will not support passenger rail services.
With up to 115" of rainfall each year, phenomenally unstable geology, and infamous seismic upheaval, the Eel River Canyon is unsuitable for any reliable transit, and is too dangerous to provide public transportation services.

In one historical example, "the towering mountainsides which rise above many sections of the [NWP] tried three times…to send the trains hurtling into the river below. Twice they knocked them from the tracks to the brink of destruction. The third time they succeeded, as tons of rock, earth and debris slipped suddenly from the face of Scotia Bluffs…and sent three men to death in the swirling, flood swollen Eel, trapped in the cab of an 80-ton locomotive" (Eureka Times Standard, January 21, 1953).

The North Coast Railroad Authority (NCRA) is currently attempting to reconstruct the Northwestern Pacific Railroad (NWP) only to Class 1 operating standards, which are bare minimal standards for freight operations and allow a maximum speed of 10 mph [Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) at 1-1].

2. The real purpose of this railroad is to subsidize the logging, gravel and other extractive industries.
More gravel is currently mined from the streams and rivers in Humboldt County than anywhere on the West Coast. Transporting large quantities of gravel with trucks is expensive, but the NWP would allow it to be easily exported to Sonoma County and elsewhere to help advance urban sprawl. Demand for this cheap gravel would push mining operations to even higher levels. The gravel and logging industries extensively lobbied for this huge railroad subsidy, whose ultimate purpose isto subsidize their operations. Spending enormous quantities of taxpayer money to haul commodity gravel and cut over softwoods is preposterously uneconomic.

3. The NWP is an economic boondoggle and an unsafe public investment.
"The line was reputed to be the most expensive railway in the world…" (draft EA at 4-67). Consultants for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) estimated that it would cost about $642,000,000 to try to stabilize all the areas along the northern portion of the NWP and would then still require constant infusions of taxpayer funds for future repairs. 89% of the $642,000,000, or about $520,000,000, is the estimated cost to reconstruct the railroad between Willits and Arcata. Some areas down slope from Island Mountain are expected to cost more than $10 million per mile (URS Greiner Woodward Clyde,1998). When the former company that owned the railroad abandoned the line in 1983, the company's president stated that it was costing the company $1 million every month to maintain the railroad from Willits to Eureka. Of the abandonment, he stated, "…we're so certain there is no possibility of a viable operation that this is the last hurrah" (Eureka Times Standard, December 8, 1983). The Federal Emergency Management Authority (FEMA) continues to rate the NCRA as a "high-risk" investment.

4. As its history has shown, the railroad would be put out of service on a regular basis due to landslides, slip-outs and other problems.
"(A)lmost the entire array of landslide types has been noted along the railroad since 1914. Also, over thirty miles are susceptible to seismically-induced soil liquefaction, subsidence and lateral spreading…" (URS Greiner Woodward Clyde 1998). "As the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) mentions (October 30, 1997),'the northern portion of the line requires heavy maintenance due to the geologically 'young' soils it is constructed on. When wet these soils tend slip and slide.' The Eel River Canyon exhibits complex mass-wasting processes such as rock falls, earthflows, debris flows, and rotational/translational landsliding…"(Id.). "Winter storms during early 1993, 1995, 1997 and 1998 caused landslides, slip-outs, and slumps along the line…" (Draft EA at 2-1). When the entire line of the NWP was officially closed by the federal railroad authority in 1998, "the FRA had already issued emergency orders on the [railroad] as clearly failing to meet Class 1 standards"(URS Greiner Woodward Clyde 1998).

5. The NWP will be constantly wiped out of service because the track was constructed below the high-water mark in the river.

he NWP was constructed below the high-water mark in many locations, resulting in extensive damage during the floods of 1937, 1955, 1964, andsmaller rain events, including those in 1993, 1995, 1997, and 1998. During the 1964 flood, the river rose 21 feet above the railroad tracks at one point near its confluence with the North Fork. "At Island Mountain, rails normally 84 feet above the river were torn out. One tunnel had 20 feet of water in it" (Draft EA at 4.68). "High water in the Eel River and Outlet Creek washed away railroad embankments along several section of track" (Id. at 2-1). A historian from Alderpoint remembers he "was reading some of (his) Aunt Ellen Smith's papers and read where they surveyed the railroad through (Alderpoint) in 1906. In December of 1909, the Eel River flooded as high as the survey stakes or maybe a few feet higher in some places…But they went ahead and built the railroad anyway knowing it would flood again, as that was the history of the river…" (The History of Alderpoint, Ray Mathison, 1998).

6. Reconstruction of the northern section would cause further damage to a designated "Wild and Scenic River" and to the Eel's fisheries.
The Eel River is designated as a "Wild and Scenic River" under both state and federal law. It was specifically designated to protect anadromous fisheries, including steelhead trout and Coho and Chinook Salmon, yet the draft Environmental Assessment and Biological Opinion clearly indicate that reconstruction and operation of the railroad would "adversely affect Chinook Salmon, Coho Salmon, and Steelhead Trout" (Draft EA at 4-36). The construction of the railroad through the Eel River Canyon was "the beginning of the end of the big Salmon runs. By the time this railroad was completed in 1914, a tremendous amount of material had been pushed and blown into the Eel River. A lot of this Eel River canyon had big landslides. When the railroad was built this started the landslides moving. These also were shoved into the river. Then they blew out the falls near Kikawaka. Also, they blew out the big rocks that formed the toe on the Kikawaka slide. This, over a period of years, let a lot of a mountain slide into the river…It was not many years before the river started to fill in and it wasn't many years before the ships could no longer run up river as far as Scotia."(Mathison 1998).

7. The reconstruction of the northern portion of the NWP would further imperil 13 species that are threatened or endangered with extinction.
In addition to the impacts to fisheries discussed above, the railroad would cause serious impacts to Bald Eagles, Marbled Murrelets, Northern Spotted Owls, Western Snowy Plovers and three endangered plants. The track runs through miles of federally designated critical habitat for the Marbled Murrelet, and the 1998 Draft EA shows the location of 20 Northern Spotted Owl territories near the train between Arcata to Dos Rios. The construction activities and operation of the train would produce noise levels of approximately 80 to 90 decibels. "Noise disturbance can disrupt nesting activities, which could result in a take if fledglings are abandoned as a result. Noise disturbance can also reduce breeding success and disrupt foraging activities…Some species are very sensitive to disturbance…and it is unlikely that they would habituate [to the railroad]. In this case, resuming operation would render occupied habitat unsuitable. The greatest potential for nesting displacement would occur in the Glynn Block and the South Fork Block, where the railroad runs through remote areas with potential nesting habitat for Marbled Murrelet and Northern Spotted Owl" (Draft EA at 4-44 to 4-45). The absence of the railroad over the last few years has allowed Bald Eagles and other rare birds to return to the Eel River, and they are now frequently seen along its shores. If the railroad were to be reconstructed along the entire length of this river, this progress would be lost.

8. The reconstruction of the NWP would further impair an already degraded watershed.
The draft EA admitted "the proposed project could impact water quality of the Eel River, Outlet Creek and other streams" through further sedimentation. "The Eel River has the highest sediment load per unit area of drainage basin of any river in the United States. This heavy sediment load is due to encroachment on drainages, streams, and rivers by landslides; and because the Franciscan Formation is relatively easily eroded." (Shannon & Wilson, Inc. Report to Rail-ways, Inc.: Report on Geotechnical Recommendations for Repair of Northwestern Pacific Railway, Healdsburg to Eureka, June 1999). In fact, studies have found that the Eel River is one of the highest sediment producing rivers in the world, "carrying fifteen times as much sediment as the notoriously muddy Mississippi…" (EPA, South Fork Eel River Temperature and Sediment TMDL). Due to these impacts, the Eel River is formally recognized as "impaired" under the federal Clean Water Act [§ 303(d)]. The railroad has caused countless embankments to erode away, landslides and other erosion sources, and its reconstruction would cause further damage to a watershed that is already suffering from extreme amounts of sediment pollution.

9. The NCRA plans to spray toxic herbicides, posing significant risks to fisheries, wildlife and domestic water sources.
The NCRA proposes to spray herbicides along the embankments and a15-foot wide swath of the railroad line (draft EA at 4-31). With the NWP's close proximity (an average of 30 feet) to Humboldt Bay and the Russian and Eel Rivers, these herbicides, which are lethal to Salmon, will undoubtedly drift and leach into these waters. Adding to this problem, the NCRA also plans to reuse contaminated soil as fill to reconstruct the line.

10. NCRA's history is replete with financial mismanagement and serious violations of the law.
The NCRA has not acted to prevent ongoing harm from numerous sites along the NWP that are contaminated with toxic pollutants, and many areas currently have diesel fuel, hydraulic fluid and other toxic chemicals spilling out from old equipment along the line. The Department of Fish and Game, the Department of Toxic Substances Control and the Regional Water Quality Control Board filed a lawsuit against the NCRA/NWP for numerous violations of the Fish and Game Code, Health and Safety Code and the Water Code. The NCRA/NWP entered into a consent decree in 1998 with the State of California to settle these claims, but they have repeatedly violated the terms of this decree. These violations include spilling oil and grease in locations where they may enter waters of the State, mishandling hazardous waste, and other violations that continue today unabated. All efforts to mitigate these problems need to be undertaken right away, but doing so and then reconstructing and operating the railroad would negate such efforts and make future spills of toxic chemicals into Humboldt Bay, the Russian River and the Wild and Scenic Eel River inevitable.

The proposed reconstruction of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad (NWP) poses alarming threats to the environment, the economy of California, and citizen safety. The entire history of the North Coast Railroad Authority (NCRA) is fraught with massive financial losses and serious violations of the Fish and Game, Health and Safety, and Water Codes. There is not one good reason to believe that the reconstruction of the NWP would improve quality of life on the North Coast. On the contrary, further damage to an already degraded watershed, and the spraying of toxic herbicides pose significant risks to fisheries, wildlife, and domestic water sources. Furthermore, the reconstruction of the northern portion of the NWP would further imperil 13 species that are threatened or endangered with extinction.

The real purpose of the NWP is to provide cheap transport for the environmentally destructive gravel and logging industries. The NCRA has thinly disguised the NWP as a tourist attraction in order to gain public interest, but don't be fooled. The reconstruction of the NWP would result in a massive environmental blight with major effects on the landscape, plant and animal species, and water sources which make up the pristine but precarious beauty of California's North Coast.

CALL TO ACTION: We urge you to write to FEMA to voice your concerns about the proposed reconstruction of the northern portion of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad, and the negative impacts the NWP will have on the environment of the North Coast. Please contact our Northern California FEMA Regional Environmental Officer at the following address:

Sandro Amaglio
Regional Environmental Officer
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Region IX
Building 105, P.O.B. 29998
Presidio of San Francisco
San Francisco, California 94129-1250


This article can be found online at www.wildcalifornia.org/publications/article-34