Federal officials say rail cars storing 2.6 million gallons of gas near Sonoma meet safety standards

Wednesday's finding means 80 gas-filled rail cars can stay at Schellville location, despite concerns the hazardous material is a public safety threat.|

Federal officials on Wednesday said rail cars storing 2.6 million gallons of flammable gas south of Sonoma meet federal safety standards, a finding that for now means the cars can stay where they are.

About 80 rail cars filled with liquefied petroleum gas are parked on tracks in Schellville south of where Highway 121 intersects Eighth Street East. Some local officials, including those at the Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit Authority, contend the storage is a major public safety threat.

SMART went public with the concerns last week, prompting the Federal Railroad Administration to inspect the site Tuesday. A spokesman for the agency said inspectors determined regulations for the storage of hazardous materials on what federal guidelines define as a “private track” are being met and the rail cars can remain.

“At this time, FRA has not found violations of those rules, but has directed Northwestern Pacific Railroad to strengthen its safety and security plan,” spokesman Matt Lehner said Wednesday.

SMART General Manager Farhad Mansourian, however, on Wednesday continued demanding Northwestern Pacific remove the rail cars containing the hazardous material.

“Let’s deal with public safety first, then we can have a powwow, or go to court, or arm wrestle or whatever they (Northwestern Pacific) want to do to resolve the contract issues. Public safety first, not last,” Mansourian said.

The dispute has become a public back-and-forth between the two rail agencies, which in 2011 hammered out a coordinating agreement governing shared use of the rail line.

Northwestern Pacific contends that as the exclusive freight operator on SMART’s right-of-way, the company can transport hazardous materials and store them at the Schellville location, about 13 miles east of where SMART plans to start passenger service along the Highway 101 corridor later this year.

“This is a freight activity, and it’s common throughout the Bay Area. There is no need to be alarmist about it,” said Mitch Stogner, executive director of the North Coast Railroad Authority, the public agency that oversees freight service on the line.

SMART argues that as the track’s owner, it has to give Northwestern Pacific permission to transport and store hazardous materials, and the company must notify SMART in advance of those operations.

The two sides dispute whether such a notification was made prior to Northwestern Pacific bringing 120 rail cars - two-thirds filled with gas - from American Canyon to Schellville about three weeks ago.

Lehner characterized the matter as a “contractual dispute” between SMART and Northwestern Pacific and a “civil issue for them to resolve.”

Judy Arnold, a Marin County supervisor and chairwoman of SMART’s board of directors, did not return several messages Wednesday seeking comment.

SMART Director Jake Mackenzie, who also serves as Rohnert Park’s vice mayor, said “clearly we have some differences as far as the facts are concerned.” He wants the rail cars moved from Schellville.

In general, federal rules require rail cars loaded with hazardous material to be moved within 48 hours. However, operators are allowed to store such material on so-called private tracks, so long as they have an adequate safety and security plan.

At a minimum, the plan must include adequate background checks for employees handling the material and steps to prevent unauthorized access to rail cars.

In this case, even the nature of Tuesday’s inspection is disputed.

Mansourian said the inspection was limited to whether the rail cars meet federal safety standards for storing hazardous materials, such as whether the cars carry signs identifying the nature of the contents.

But Lehner said in addition to inspecting the rail cars, inspectors determined the Schellville site meets the designation of a private track, which, under federal rules, are those outside a carrier’s right-of-way or leased to an operator “for exclusive use of that trackage by the lessee.”

He said inspectors reviewed whether the site meets federal rules governing storage of hazardous materials and checked for compliance with safety regulations.

He said inspectors also reviewed Northwestern Pacific’s safety and security plan.

Lehner said inspectors ordered the company to make a “slight modification” to that plan in how it notifies local agencies of materials it has in storage.

Mansourian on Wednesday said the agency took the unusual step last week of going public with its concerns after back-channel discussions with Northwestern Pacific officials failed to resolve the issue.

He said Northwestern Pacific’s decision to not share its safety and security plan with local officials, including those at the Schell-Vista Fire Protection District a few miles from the storage site, demonstrates “the kind of reckless behavior that’s unacceptable.”

SMART has notified Northwestern Pacific it will not allow the company to move any more freight along the rail line until the hazardous material is taken out of Schellville, except on a case-by-case basis and only after the freight operator has submitted detailed plans on the contents and destination.

Stogner, however, said Northwestern Pacific is prevented by federal law from sharing its security plan with anyone other than federal regulators. He said SMART should be blamed for increasing risks to public safety by publicizing the issue and the location of the rail cars and their contents.

As for SMART’s threat to restrict or prevent future freight shipments along the line, Stogner said Northwestern Pacific “will submit the paperwork to move freight just as we’ve done for 5½ years.”

Former Congressman Doug Bosco, an investor in Sonoma Media Investments, which owns The Press Democrat, is a co-founder and owner of Northwestern Pacific.

You can reach Staff Writer Derek Moore at 707-521-5336 or derek.moore@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @deadlinederek.

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