City, railroad must keep open the lines of communication

Let us hope the lines of communication are kept open concerning the diesel plume which lies under the railroad yards on the south edge of McCook.

This is serious business. The diesel plume sits close to McCook's four million gallon water storage tank, and is not far away from the McCook Humane Society facilities facing South Street.

Because of the potential problems this could create, it was encouraging Tuesday to have the general manager of the Nebraska Division of Burlington Northern Santa Fe, Boyd Andrew, give an update on the railroad's efforts to clean up the site and minimize possible problems.

In a letter to the Gazette's Open Forum, Andrew declared, "The latest expansion of the recovery system ... will effectively halt further migration of the plume and assure there is no future impact on the tank reservoir or nearby property owners." According to the railroad official, the recovery system includes the addition of 14 more recovery wells and a soil vapor extraction component for all the new and existing recovery wells.

Andrew went on to say, "Burlington Northern Santa Fe believes that the clean-up of the diesel plume in McCook is an ongoing success story."

We hope so. The diesel plume is a potentially dangerous problem and must be monitored closely; not only now, but for years and years to come.

For sure, it has put the creation of a water treatment facility at the reservoir site in question. Would you put a treatment plant there, knowing that the diesel plume was close by? After earlier voting to do so, the council reversed their decision, deciding to go north to get water after the diesel plume problem surfaced.

Now, even that decision is clouded, as Councilman Phil Lyons and others are collecting signatures asking the council to reconsider the engineering contract for the north water well development.

The success of that effort could be known later this month. Lyons believes the treatment option is still in the city's best long-term interests, but other council members disagree, favoring the north well site option.

Meanwhile, back at the railroad, the search goes on for a solution to the diesel plume problem. Money is a big factor, but safety remains the paramount issue. All concerned -- the city, the railroad, the engineers and the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality -- must do all within their power to safeguard public health. All other issues pale in comparison, even though, sooner or later, in one way or another, McCook's water quality and quantity questions must be resolved.

That is why, after hearing about the Burlington Northern Santa Fe official's comments, McCook City Manager said, "It's good to have the railroad's attention." With legal action pending, that may have been all the city official could say.