As of last week, Portland Vancouver Junction Railroad faces more accusations that it has caused ecological damage and harmed the environment with its railroad expansion project in the Chelatchie area.
After visiting the site Nov. 16, staff with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) issued PVJR a notice of violation last week, claiming the railroad violated the Clean Water Act in its construction.
PVJR began its construction project to expand Chelatchie Yard earlier this year.
On Sept. 29, Chelatchie resident John Nanney sent an email to Clark County representatives and local environmental agencies claiming PVJR and President Eric Temple did not provide residents notice of the work around Northeast 429th Street, nor were any permits filed for the project.
“The construction work is taking place through wetlands and habitat buffer areas and is now destroying the ecosystem for local wild trout and other species of fish, as well as natural wildlife habitat,” Nanney said in the email.
An ensuing investigation by the Washington state Department of Ecology (DOE), completed on Oct. 13, reported that the wetlands and streams had been impacted by unauthorized activities, in an email to Temple. The agency did not specifically state that PVJR was responsible for the damage, however.
In an email to Clark County officials, Oct. 17, Temple said the company is not guilty of ecological damage.
“We have not obstructed any water flow or harmed any fish during the course of our maintenance work. In fact, at the time the initial complaints were made, we hadn’t even started any work near the dry creek beds,” Temple stated in the email.
A number of state and federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and USACE, have conducted their own investigations since the original report released by DOE. In the most recent report, USACE Col. Kathryn Sanborn issued the notice of violation to PVJR in a letter, which claimed USACE found evidence of ecological damage caused by the company’s construction. This included the discharge of fill material into 200 linear feet of tributaries into the Chelatchie Creek and adjacent wetland, which is a violation of the Clean Water Act, the letter stated. The letter also instructed PVJR to stop any existing construction at the site in question.
“The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District asserts that you are responsible for the placement of fill into waters of the United States without the required Department of the Army authorization, and to advise you to cease and desist conducting such activity in waters of the United States pending a resolution,” Sanborn wrote. “The USACE has reason to believe, and does allege, that you are a party associated with this activity, as a person performing or causing the performance of this work.”
That finding corroborates previous statements made to PVJR by the DOE and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW).
Meghan Tait, DOE wetland/shoreland specialist, sent a letter on Oct. 23 to Temple following an on-site inspection on Oct. 13.
“The reason for our site visit was to investigate allegations that excavation, grading and filling had taken place in and adjacent to wetlands and streams,” Tait stated in the letter. “Our site investigation confirmed that wetlands and streams had been impacted by unauthorized activities.”
In the letter, the DOE ordered PVJR to complete a wetland delineation, stream assessment and an application for a construction stormwater general permit. All documents must be submitted, then approved by their agency. The letter stated PVJR had until Jan. 21 to complete the work.
PVJR applied for the construction stormwater general permit on Nov. 11, but as of Dec. 22 had not submitted the wetland and stream assessment report, DOE communications manager Mugdha Flores said in an email.
According to the stormwater general permit, which was filed before USACE’s report was released, PVJR estimated construction work will resume on April 1, 2024, with an estimated completion date of April 1, 2025. The project’s total size is 34 acres, according to the permit application.
The ecological damage in Chelatchie is vast, WDFW assistant regional habitat program manager Maddie Nolan said in an email. The unnamed tributary PVJR is accused of damaging with its work was presumed to have cutthroat and steelhead trout and coho salmon.
“Based on two site visits to the Chelatchie site on Oct. 4 and Nov. 16, a habitat biologist for the agency noted extensive instream work above the railroad. It was hard to discern all the work that was done, but we know that they added at least five large cobble dams to the stream and installed an undersized culvert, all of which are impounding water. We suspect the stream may have been redirected in places, as well, but it is hard to know for sure,” Nolan said. “Overall, we do know that the work they did had a direct, negative impact to downstream portions of the unnamed tributary to Chelatchie Creek where fish can be found. The largest impact was reducing the amount of water that was going downstream.”
Judging the extent of the ecological damage to the tributary is difficult, Nolan said in a phone interview with The Reflector.
“It’s just really hard to know exactly what they did. They changed it so much, it’s hard to know what was there before,” Nolan said.
At issue is whether PVJR is working on a pre-existing logging road, which Temple maintains it is, which would make it exempt from the Clean Water Act Section 404 standards and was permitted according to the USACE Permit Guidebook.
“I’d like to emphasize that the maintenance activities on an old logging road, like the one in question, are exempt from stormwater permitting under both federal and state law … We have consistently adhered to the law throughout this project, and for that reason, the request for a permit appears to be premature in contrast to the legal framework,” Temple stated in a previous email.
According to the USACE Permit Guidebook some activities are exempt, but states the USACE should be contacted prior to the beginning of any project.
“Because the requirements associated with exemptions are very complicated, do not attempt to determine by yourself if a proposed activity is exempt,” the book states. “To avoid a potential violation, contact us to help you determine if your project is exempt before you perform any work. If we determine that your project is exempt, we will provide you written documentation verifying that the work is exempt.”
DOE has not confirmed the PVJR construction is taking place on a pre-existing logging road, Flores said in an email.
“We are working with our partners to gather more data,” she stated.
The Reflector was unable to reach PVJR and Temple for further comment, as of Dec. 22.
