Page 24 - Flathead Beacon // 2.19.14

24 | FEBRUARY 19, 2014
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“THERE WOULD BE SEVERE CONSEQUENCES OF A

DERAILMENT NEAR THE PARK, WHETHER IT SPARKS A

FIRE OR SPILLS OIL. WE NEED TO BE PREPARED FOR IT.”

Jef Mow, Glacier National Park Superintendent

OIL
at that time of year. Immediately follow-
ing the spill, the Park Service dispatched
Continued from page 5
rangers and scientists to assess the area
before the oil loated ashore. He said that
able to local irst responders in the com- information is valuable when trying to

ing weeks.
make informed decisions about protect-
The increase of oil on the rails wor- ing environmental resources.
ries Mow, who perhaps has more expe- One impact of the Exxon Valdez spill
rience than anyone else in the National was the establishment of community
Park Service with regard to oil spills. groups who regularly meet to discuss
An avalanche training session at Whiteish Mountain Resort. BEACON FILE PHOTO
Mow was a park ranger and later super- the issues of transporting oil. Mow said
intendent at Kenai Fjords National Park something similar is already set up in
that is located less than 100 miles from Northwest Montana, the Great North- Four Individuals Survive

where the Exxon Valdez ran aground in ern Environmental Stewardship Area.
the Prince William Sound of the coast The railroad and the U.S. Fish and Wild- Avalanche in Canyon
of Alaska on March 24, 1989. The wreck life Service created the GNESA in 1991 to
spilled 257,000 barrels of oil, the equiv- prepare a Habitat Conservation Plan to
alent of 125 Olympic-sized swimming protect grizzly bears that were attracted
Creek Drainage
pools, and killed thousands of animals, to the tracks by grain spilled from pass-
including 250,000 seabirds, 2,800 sea ing trains. The GNESA corridor includes

otters, 300 harbor seals, 250 bald eagles the 58 miles of track between East Gla-
and 22 killer whales. Mow helped inves- cier Park and West Glacier.
Backcountry travelers ral avalanche activity was observed tigate the spill for the Park Service and The rail line along Glacier’s southern
partially buried in 900- in John F. Stevens Canyon along the Department of Justice.
boundary is now the subject of BNSF’s
southern edge of Glacier National Park. Twenty-one years later, Mow was Geographical Response Plan. The docu-
foot wide avalanche in Skiers and snowmobilers in the Can- a Department of the Interior incident ment, which will be released to irst re-
yon Creek drainage reported a num- commander when the Deepwater Hori- sponders and other stakeholders in the
Whiteish Range
ber of human-triggered avalanches on zon oil drilling well sank in the Gulf of next few weeks, will include a detailed

southerly facing aspects.
Mexico, causing the largest ofshore oil response plan in case an oil train de-
“It is important to note that, not spill in U.S. history. Those two incidents railed anywhere between East Glacier
By BEACON STAFF
only are we encountering natural av- shape Mow’s worldview when it comes Park and Stryker. Jones said it would in-
alanches and human triggered ava- to the increase of oil on the tracks near clude highly detailed maps of the entire
Four individuals survived a mas- lanches, but we are getting reports of Glacier.
route and strategies on how to deploy
sive avalanche that occurred in the remotely triggered avalanches,” said
“There would be severe consequenc- containment booms in the Middle Fork
Canyon Creek drainage
Seth Carbonari with es of a derailment near the park, wheth- of the Flathead River or any other near-
near Whiteish Moun-
the FAC.
er it sparks a ire or spills oil,” Mow said. by body of water. BNSF has a similar re-

“IT IS IMPORTANT
tain Resort on Saturday,
The FAC issued “We need to be prepared for it.”
sponse plan for the Kootenai River Val-
according to oicials.
another special advi- Moving oil by rail received increased ley between Wolf Creek, on the west side
A snowmobiler trig- TO NOTE THAT,
sory warning Monday scrutiny after a series of explosive de- of Flathead Tunnel, and Bonners Ferry,
gered the avalanche on NOT ONLY ARE WE morning of high ava- railments last year. On July 6, an un- Idaho.
a series of south-facing lanche danger in the manned oil train derailed and exploded The National Parks Conservation
chutes known as the ENCOUNTERING backcountry moun- in Lac Ḿgantic, Que., killing 47 people Association’s Michael Jamison said the
“Skook Chutes” or “Sev- tains of the Flathead and leveling more than 30 buildings. On railroad and the communities it runs
NATURAL
en Sisters,” according Range and portions of Dec. 30, a BNSF oil train ran into a de- through are “at the beginning of what
to an incident report by AVALANCHES AND Glacier Park. The av- railed grain train and exploded in Cas- promises to be a robust conversation”
the Flathead Avalanche alanche danger in the selton, N.D. No one was injured in the about the movement of oil by rail. He
Center. The slide was HUMAN TRIGGERED Whiteish Range is blast, but the town was evacuated be- said the railroad needs to do everything
roughly 900 feet wide AVALANCHES, BUT
rated “considerable.”
cause of toxic fumes. Other oil trains it can to prevent accidents, including im-
and ran 700 vertical feet Conditions have have derailed in Alabama, Alberta and proving its track infrastructure and up-
downhill. Debris reached WE ARE GETTING been dangerous in New Brunswick.
grading to modern tank cars.
the Canyon Creek Road the past week due Mow is concerned about both public BNSF recently announced that the
REPORTSOF
and was reported to be to heavy snowfall, safety in the park and the environmen- railroad would spend $5 billion on im-
roughly 6 feet deep.
REMOTELY TRIGGERED strong winds and tal impact of a spill or explosion. Recent- provements in 2014, including $900
Four individuals in highly unstable con- ly, the superintendent met with BNSF million to expand track capacity in the
the area were partially AVALANCHES.”
ditions, according to oicials to voice his concerns.
Northern Plains where crude oil ship-
buried but made it out the local center.
“We’re not experts in operating rail- ments are surging. The spending plan is
OK, according to the Two skiers were roads, but we want to ask questions and roughly $1 billion higher than 2013.
Seth Carbonari, F.A.C.
FAC.
killed in an avalanche make sure (BNSF) is doing everything Mow and Jamison both said BNSF

in Colorado and a
they can to lessen the risk,” Mow said.
has a positive relationship with the park, The local center is
A lesson from the Exxon Valdez spill which will be important in the months continuing to investigate the incident snowmobiler was killed in Idaho over
that could be applied to today’s situation and years ahead.
and will post a full report online at the weekend, hiking the death toll this
is the importance of knowing what en- “We need to have a conversation www.latheadavalanche.org.
winter to 15. Nine of those fatalities
vironmental resources are at a location about how we make it safer and how Several avalanches were reported have occurred in February across the
before an accident happens. Mow said we plan for the day something bad does across the Flathead Valley over the West.
before the spill, the National Park Ser- happen,” Jamison said. “The good thing weekend, according to the FAC. Snow- For more information about local
vice had little information about the Ke- is there isn’t a bad guy in this, there’s no mobilers in the Skyland area near Ma- conditions, visit www.latheadava-

nai Fjords coastline in winter because pro-accident lobby.”
rias Pass reported remotely triggering lanche.org.
no one was there to gather information
[email protected]
an avalanche on a north aspect. Natu-
[email protected]