State acknowledges Railway District test results

In more good news for the Railway District in downtown Whitefish, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality has reviewed the results of the city's subsurface investigation and given a thumbs up for the neighborhood.

"Based on the analytical laboratory results, DEQ does not believe further action is warranted at this time in the areas of the Railway District that were investigated for your study," Matthew Kent, DEQ's lead man for the BNSF Railway Superfund site, said in a Feb. 1 letter to the city.

Using $50,000 in state grant money, the city hired Roger Noble and Applied Water Consulting, of Kalispell, to investigate the extent of the underground diesel fuel contamination after BNSF began acquiring downtown properties last spring.

Lab results from 25 soil-borings in the Railway District and east of the middle school revealed insignificant or no contamination from underground diesel fuel plumes originating inside the BNSF Railway Superfund site.

Kent also offered to come to Whitefish to discuss the results with a committee representing the city and property owners in the Railway District.