BNSF Track Switching Facility

The BNSF Track Switching Facility sits along the north shoreline of the Columbia River in Wishram, Washington. Trains have used this area since the early 1900s to fix and fuel locomotives, with fuel tanks, underground piping, a railcar repair shop, and support buildings on site. Steam engines used heavy oil (Bunker C) until the mid‑1950s; diesel fueling continued into the late 1970s. By the 1980s, most maintenance buildings were removed as work moved elsewhere. BNSF Railway owns the property today.

In January 2002, a previously unknown 30,000‑gallon underground tank was found. Tests showed diesel and heavy oil in nearby soils above Washington’s cleanup standards. The tank was removed, and contaminated soil was excavated down to bedrock and taken to a permitted landfill. Clean soil was placed back in the excavation. Follow‑up sampling showed most contamination was removed. Ecology and BNSF then looked beyond the tank area because fuel storage and piping existed in several places across the facility, and the cleanup site now includes areas where contamination was released and remains in soil, groundwater, and nearby river sediments.

In 1957, building The Dalles Dam raised the river by about 40 feet and covered parts of the old shoreline near the railyard. Investigations found oil‑type contamination in the riverbed along the shoreline, including a near‑shore area that extends roughly 140 feet from the shoreline. Under certain natural conditions—like lower river levels or warmer weather—small amounts of buried oil can work its way up through the riverbed and create brief, visible sheens on the water. These occasional sheens show contamination remains in the sediments and can interact with river conditions.

The shoreline next to the railroad facility is within a treaty fishing area reserved to the Columbia River treaty tribes—the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, and the Nez Perce Tribe. Tribal members continue to fish in this area under treaty rights. Because the Columbia River is a vital cultural and natural resource, Ecology is carefully reviewing cleanup options for the sediment area to protect human health, the environment, and treaty fishing rights.

Under Washington’s cleanup law, Ecology must ensure the selected sediment remedy is as permanent and protective as possible. Ecology evaluates whether a cleanup option will:

• Prevent future releases of contamination, including stopping buried oil from bubbling up through the riverbed;
• Reduce long‑term risks and protect river habitat and aquatic life;
• Protect people who fish or recreate in the area; and
• Minimize the need for ongoing maintenance if the cleanup uses engineered controls.

Cleanup options are compared to determine which approach provides the greatest long‑term protection and permanence.

In 2015, Ecology entered into an Agreed Order with BNSF. This legal agreement requires BNSF to investigate contamination and evaluate cleanup options under the Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA), with Ecology oversight.

• Remedial Investigation (RI): Studies what contamination is present and where it is located. 

• Feasibility Study (FS): Compares different cleanup options and how well each option protects people and the environment over the long term.

• Draft Cleanup Action Plan (DCAP): Identifies the cleanup method Ecology proposes to select. It also sets the cleanup standards—cleanup levels and the points where those levels must be met—and outlines environmental monitoring during and after cleanup. Before the plan is finalized, the public can review and comment.

Ecology will continue to share information and provide opportunities for public feedback before final cleanup decisions are made. You can subscribe for updates, view documents, and call if there are questions.