Many individuals and organizations have written about the vulnerability of the Middle Fork of the Flathead River to a catastrophic oil train spill. There are great ideas of how to avoid a spill already out there, and I trust that BNSF will take these suggestions seriously. I think the Montana Public Service Commission should take a more active hand in trains safety. I also think that a spill response protocol supplied by BNSF should already be available to the PSC and concerned citizens for review. I am surprised that BNSF has not conducted a dye test on the Middle Fork to see how oil or other chemicals would act if released into the river. This information would seem essential to BNSF in its planning for a disaster response. Millions of gallons of crude oil travels along our wild and scenic Middle Fork every day and BNSF should pay for a dye study and implement it this summer along with a spill protocol before this winter. You heard me right. As BNSF is the one profiting from the movement of the oil, it should pay for these studies and plans and not citizens of Montana. Do not wait until you have fouled the river to decide how the situation should have been dealt with.
Edwin Fields
Whitefish