At 88 miles long, with a projected capacity of up to 350,000 barrels per day, eastern Utah鈥檚 Uinta Basin Railway would rank among the most ambitious efforts to haul crude oil by rail ever undertaken in the United States.
But it鈥檚 not the largest ever considered.
That label belongs to a proposed 580-mile, dual-track railroad to the northern coast of Alaska by the U.S. Department of Transportation in the early 1970s. The route would have hauled as much as 2 million barrels per day from the oil fields of Prudhoe Bay, but in the end it was ditched in favor of what was deemed a safer and more efficient method of transport: the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, which instead pumped the oil 800 miles to the port of Valdez, where it could be loaded into tanker ships.
It was a solution that came with its own set of risks, and in the years leading up to the pipeline鈥檚 completion, the federal government and the consortium of oil companies that built it made a series of assurances about the safeguards that would be in place. Experienced harbor pilots would guide vessels through the length of Prince William Sound. An upgraded navigation system would further reduce the chances of a ship veering off course. Tankers would be double-hulled to lower the risks of spills, and robust contingency plans would spell out effective containment measures in the event that disaster did strike.
In short, facing widespread environmental concerns, the backers of the project promised that everything would be fine. For nearly 12 years, it was.
Gradually, however, many of the promised safety measures went unfulfilled, ebbed away or fell victim to cost-cutting. Pilotage requirements were eased at oil companies鈥� request. The region鈥檚 navigation system was downgraded to save money. The Coast Guard dropped its double-hull mandate in the face of industry opposition, and contingency plans were drawn up based on unrealistic assumptions.
As the risks mounted, and minor incidents and near-misses added up, environmental advocates issued about the tanker traffic in Prince William Sound. Long before a tanker named the Exxon Valdez left the port late on March 23, 1989, locals knew 鈥渢he Big One鈥� was coming. On the very night that the tanker departed, in fact, marine biologist Riki Ott spoke at a public meeting of concerned Valdez residents to warn officials of the potential consequences.
鈥淲hen, not if, 鈥榯he Big One鈥� does occur, and much or all of the income from a fishing season is lost, compensation for processors, support industries and local communities will be difficult if not impossible to obtain,鈥� Ott said in just hours before the Exxon Valdez ran aground in the early-morning darkness on March 24.
Of the dozens of Colorado communities lying along the 鈥渄ownline鈥� route of the Uinta Basin Railway鈥檚 oil trains, fears of a potential 鈥淏ig One鈥� may be highest in Grand County, where the Colorado River and several of its fragile tributaries flow through the high alpine meadows of Middle Park. Just like Ott and other concerned Alaskans in the 1980s, residents here speak about what happens when, not if, a train derails. They鈥檝e grown especially apprehensive following a involving a Norfolk Southern train in East Palestine, Ohio, in February.
鈥淭he chances of derailment in Colorado along these windy canyons goes way up,鈥� said Kirk Klancke, president of the Colorado River Headwaters Chapter of conservation group Trout Unlimited. 鈥淓ast Palestine, Ohio, didn鈥檛 give us any confidence, either.鈥�
An oil spill here, not far from where the Colorado River鈥檚 headwaters flow from the western side of the Continental Divide in Rocky Mountain National Park, could immediately threaten water supplies in towns that rely on it as their one and only source. Farther along, where the railroad finally parts ways with the Colorado and turns south to follow the Fraser River鈥檚 course instead, a spill could pollute water on both sides of the divide, since much of the Fraser鈥檚 water is diverted through several tunnels under the mountains to thirsty cities on the populous Front Range.
鈥淒amaging the environment for a long period of time 鈥� I think that would have an impact all the way down, since we鈥檙e the headwaters,鈥� Klancke said. 鈥淓specially considering how hard it is to clean this up.鈥�
In East Palestine and other towns nearby, residents are bracing themselves for regulatory and court proceedings that could take years to unfold, amid lingering uncertainty about exposure levels and the long-term health risks posed by hazards like the toxic that was burned in the aftermath of the derailment.
Hilary Flint, a resident of nearby Enon Valley, Pennsylvania, said she and many others have experienced health symptoms like rashes, burning eyes and respiratory issues in the months following the accident. A cancer survivor, Flint said she plans to move out of her fourth-generation family home and relocate out of state after testing showed elevated levels of vinyl chloride and ethylhexyl acrylate, another hazardous chemical that was spilled as a result of the crash.
Along with other members of a group called the Unity Council for the East Palestine Train Derailment Community, Flint is organizing residents to make demands of Norfolk Southern and advocate for regulations to limit the risk of similar incidents occurring in the future.
鈥淔or the people that are in a town with train tracks going right through, now is the time to check and see: What training is your fire department doing?鈥� she said. 鈥淲hat type of emergency response plan exists?鈥�
鈥淲hat happened in East Palestine can happen anywhere,鈥� Flint added. 鈥淚f we鈥檙e not holding these large companies accountable, this is going to keep happening in small communities, and everyone needs to be prepared for what that could look like.鈥�
Magnified risks
After completing the last of the sharp curves that snake through Byers Canyon, eastbound trains on the Union Pacific railroad emerge directly into the town of Hot Sulphur Springs, passing between the Colorado River and the resort that has drawn visitors here for more than 150 years.
Soon, as many as five fully loaded, two-mile long crude oil trains per day could pass just a hundred feet from the naturally heated pools of mineral spring water at the Hot Sulphur Springs Resort and Spa. As they pass through town, trains block the only entrance to the resort, a dirt road that intersects with the tracks at a so-called grade crossing 鈥� one of many such crossings across rural Colorado that lack the gate arms and warning lights that are required in more highly-trafficked areas.
Mile 219: Hot Sulphur Springs
鈥淭here are locations all over the state that don鈥檛 have the emergency arms over the railroad tracks,鈥� Craig Hurst, manager of the Colorado Department of Transportation鈥檚 Freight Mobility and Safety Branch, said in an interview.
鈥淵ou still see far too many rail and truck events, where the truck is centered on a rail line, and a locomotive, obviously, couldn鈥檛 stop that quickly,鈥� Hurst said. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 see very far in some of these locations 鈥� you can do everything right and still be in a bad spot.鈥�
Though they鈥檙e one of the most common causes of train accidents, collisions with cars and trucks at grade crossings are just one of many reasons trains in Colorado derail. More than 480 accidents on 鈥渕ainline鈥� rail segments across the state have been reported to the since 2000, with causes ranging from broken or worn-out tracks and defective equipment to rockslides, heavy snowfall and other 鈥渆xtreme environmental conditions,鈥� including floods and high winds.
Though railroads are tight-lipped about the freight that travels on their rails, estimates from federal regulators and summary data released by local officials suggest the Uinta Basin Railway could more than quadruple the amount of freight rail traffic through central Colorado, and dramatically increase the percentage of that traffic that is made up of hazardous materials.
鈥淲hen you are significantly increasing rail traffic in one area, then whatever risks there may be 鈥� and there are always risks 鈥� those simply are magnified,鈥� Eagle County Commissioner Matt Scherr said in an interview. Eagle County has joined five environmental groups in suing to overturn the railway鈥檚 approval.
In its of the project, the federal Surface Transportation Board analyzed 鈥渄ownline鈥� impacts like the increased risk of train accidents in Colorado, including a spill of up to 30,000 gallons of crude oil roughly once every five years.
But the STB鈥檚 analysis stopped there. It didn鈥檛 examine in detail the risks that such a spill could pose to communities and ecosystems in the downline area 鈥� an omission that Eagle County鈥檚 lawsuit called 鈥渁rbitrary and capricious.鈥�
With the STB鈥檚 approval and the granting by the U.S. Forest Service of a 12-mile right-of-way permit through a protected area in Utah鈥檚 Ashley National Forest, President Joe Biden鈥檚 administration is poised to greenlight the Uinta Basin Railway over objections from Colorado officials. The project still needs to secure billions of dollars in financing before construction can begin; backers have announced plans to seek tax-exempt that must be approved by the U.S. Department of Transportation, drawing further protests from the railway鈥檚 opponents.
Even without the increased oil-train traffic, Middle Park is a region where water supplies are under threat.
In Hot Sulphur Springs, where 100% of the town鈥檚 water comes from the Colorado River, residents this spring were under the latest in a series of water conservation orders that the Public Works Department has implemented since the . Spring runoff flowing over ash and silt in the fire鈥檚 burn scar has increased the turbidity of the water that Hot Sulphur Springs draws from the river, the rate at which it can treat drinking water.
Like most crude oils, the waxy crude produced in the Uinta Basin is a toxic cocktail of hydrocarbons and other chemicals, from heavy metals to volatile organic compounds like benzene.
When 60,000 gallons of oil were spilled into Canada鈥檚 North Saskatchewan River by a leaky pipeline in 2016, three cities that drew drinking water from the river were forced to shut down their intakes for nearly while authorities evaluated health risks and treatment options. A temporary 18-mile pipeline to provide potable water to residents in the meantime. Similar precautions were being taken this week by communities who rely on the Yellowstone River in Montana, where a bridge collapse from a train operated by Montana Rail Link.
The cost to clean up the Saskatchewan spill 鈥� a release of about two tanker cars鈥� worth of oil 鈥� totaled at least .
鈥淚f you lose your water supply,鈥� Klancke said, 鈥渋t鈥檚 going to cost these towns a lot of money to get it back.鈥�
鈥楢n absolute disaster鈥�
Heading east into Granby, trains on the Union Pacific鈥檚 Central Corridor travel along the southern edge of the Windy Gap Reservoir, a potent symbol of Grand County鈥檚 vulnerable water supplies and the risks that its rivers face in a hotter, drier climate.
Disasters like the East Troublesome Fire 鈥� an unprecedented fast-moving blaze that scorched more than 150,000 acres in the headwaters region over a two-day period in late October 鈥� have laid bare the stakes of climate change. But even before the worsening risks of drought and aridification are taken into account, Grand County鈥檚 rivers and streams rank as some of the most endangered waterways in the country.
Mile 229: Granby
鈥淲e only have 40% of our native flows, because 60% gets diverted to Front Range cities,鈥� Klancke said. For years, his Trout Unlimited chapter has lobbied for projects to restore the health of riparian ecosystems in the region, like a that will allow fish to bypass the Windy Gap dam.
Located at the confluence of the Colorado and Fraser rivers, the Windy Gap Reservoir collects tens of thousands of acre-feet of water per year, which is pumped six miles north to Lake Granby and then under the Continental Divide to the watershed of the Big Thompson River. It鈥檚 part of an extensive system of reservoirs and conduits that make up the , which supplies drinking and irrigation water to 1 million people in 33 Front Range municipalities.
It鈥檚 only one of several that impact watersheds in Grand County. And the reduced flows that result from the diversions are a big reason why residents and county officials are especially worried about the consequences of an oil spill here.
If there was some kind of a spill, these little streams would just be obliterated. It would be an absolute disaster.鈥� Grand County Commissioner Rich Cimino
鈥淭hey say the solution to pollution is dilution 鈥� if you鈥檙e able to get more water to come through, eventually it will clean out,鈥� said Rich Cimino, a Grand County commissioner. 鈥淏ut our rivers are shrunk. We鈥檙e spending millions of dollars over decades to narrow and deepen and shade our streams. A lot of repair work has to happen so that these streams can be healthy again, with less water.鈥�
鈥淚f there was some kind of a spill, these little streams would just be obliterated,鈥� Cimino added. 鈥淚t would be an absolute disaster, even worse than if we didn鈥檛 have the water diversions.鈥�
Residents here accept the inevitability of the transbasin diversions; 80% of Colorado鈥檚 precipitation falls on the western side of the Continental Divide, but 90% of its population lives on the eastern side. But the arrangement means that much of the responsibility for mitigating risks to Front Range water supplies falls on a county with only a fraction of the Interstate 25 corridor鈥檚 population and financial resources.
Granby, two miles east of the Windy Gap dam, is the largest of Grand County鈥檚 municipalities, with a whopping 2,079 residents.
鈥淪mall counties like us 鈥� we ourselves aren鈥檛 capable of cleaning up (an oil spill),鈥� said Klancke. 鈥淵et we鈥檙e going to be the first responders.鈥�
Grand County is hardly a hotbed of tree-hugging, anti-fossil-fuel sentiment. It鈥檚 a world away from the liberal jet-set enclaves of Vail and Aspen, and all three members of its Board of County Commissioners are Republicans.
But after hearing from concerned residents and groups like Trout Unlimited, commissioners wrote in a to Colorado Gov. Jared Polis that the county would be 鈥渇ormally opposing鈥� the Uinta Basin Railway unless a series of safeguards were put in place. The requested contingency measures included an emergency response plan approved by state wildlife officials and the hiring of an experienced cleanup contractor on retainer.
鈥淕rand County is very concerned with the capacity and response times of the specialized emergency services capable of containing a crude oil spill,鈥� commissioners wrote. 鈥淪hould a spill occur in Grand County, it will have reverberating impacts across the entire state of Colorado.鈥�
Anne Junod, a researcher with the Urban Institute who has and community perceptions of oil trains, said in an interview that her research shows a unique set of concerns on the part of residents who live along rail corridors outside of major metropolitan areas.
鈥淲hat you see is, the emergency and first responders tend to be a lot more volunteer-based 鈥� they just have fewer resources, less emergency responder capacity, smaller tax bases to invest in those types of things than your larger metros,鈥� she said.
In recent decades, most major train disasters have occurred in rural areas like East Palestine, where, compared to densely-populated cities, there are far more miles of track and fewer people and resources to properly inspect and maintain them.
鈥淚t really is just a numbers game 鈥� there鈥檚 over 140,000 miles of track in the U.S., and well over 100,000 of those are going through rural and tribal areas,鈥� Junod said.
There鈥檚 over 140,000 miles of track in the U.S., and well over 100,000 of those are going through rural and tribal areas.鈥� Anne Junod, Urban Institute researcher
鈥淵ou have these larger inspection regions, where for the most part it鈥檚 impossible to adequately spend the time you need to make sure that tracks and infrastructure are adequate quality,鈥� she added. 鈥淲hat we鈥檝e been seeing over the last 15 to 20 years 鈥� a lot of the catastrophic derailments we鈥檝e seen, (National Transportation Safety Board) findings have shown that oftentimes, it鈥檚 due to inspection issues that just weren鈥檛 caught.鈥�
So far, Grand County hasn鈥檛 received any of the assurances it asked for. Though its opposition to the railway came too late for it to join other Colorado city and county governments in supporting Eagle County鈥檚 lawsuit in an amicus brief earlier this year, Cimino, for his part, wishes the county had understood the risks sooner.
鈥淚鈥檓 confident we would have (joined), if we had known everything at the right time,鈥� he said. 鈥淛ust up and down, it鈥檚 only negatives to us, no positives to us.鈥�
Long-term fallout
In the winter, trains bound for Denver climb a tree-lined ridge a few miles south of the town of Fraser, then emerge into a clearing where they can find themselves in a race with skiers just a hundred feet to their right, making their way down a beginner鈥檚 slope that runs in parallel with the railroad to the base of the Winter Park Resort.
Mile 248: Winter Park
It鈥檚 the only ski resort in America served directly by passenger rail 鈥� not an insignificant selling point, at a time of about wintertime traffic congestion on the Interstate 70 corridor. Like so many other parts of Colorado鈥檚 railroading legacy, the 鈥淪ki Train鈥� was pioneered by the Denver & Rio Grande Railway in 1940, Winter Park鈥檚 first year in operation, and although the service has lapsed several times since then, Amtrak has run its weekend line during the ski season since 2017.
Grand County鈥檚 population can double during the busiest periods of the winter and summer tourist seasons, leaving it heavily dependent on the economic activity generated by skiing, rafting, fishing and other outdoor activities.
Colorado has over 9,000 miles of fishable trout streams, but only 325 of them are deemed 鈥溾€� waters, a certification from Colorado Parks and Wildlife that a river segment can consistently produce quality stock. Forty of those miles lie within Grand County. Advocates like Klancke are proud of the hard-won designation for such a vulnerable area 鈥� and fearful that all of that progress could be suddenly undone by an oil spill.
鈥淚t means a lot of dollars on a state level. For us, it鈥檚 in the tens of millions, just in our small community,鈥� Klancke said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a huge part of our economy, so that would be the main loss from a financial point.鈥�
Such concerns are why, in addition to contingency plans and response equipment, Grand County asked for funds to be placed in an escrow account to cover the costs of a potential oil spill caused by a Uinta Basin train. The county鈥檚 request didn鈥檛 specify an amount, but noted that the cleanup of a in the Kalamazoo River ran to $1.2 billion.
鈥淎 bond in place to guarantee payment for loss, rather than years of being in court 鈥� in a small county, these are the ways we have to think,鈥� Klancke said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 have the money to incur the loss of funds for a long period of time.鈥�
It鈥檚 a lesson that opponents of the Uinta Basin Railway are drawing from countless oil spills and other disasters over the decades, from the Exxon Valdez to East Palestine. Often, the immediate ecological damage and emergency response only represent the start of a disaster that can take years to fully unfold.
In Grand County and elsewhere, the deepest fears about the railway concern the unknown 鈥� the uncertain future that would await communities along the Colorado River in the event of a catastrophe that, in the words of 10 local governments in their March supporting Eagle County鈥檚 lawsuit, 鈥渃ould ruin this unique region for decades.鈥�
For coastal communities in Alaska, some of the most devastating effects of the Exxon Valdez spill were those that accumulated gradually in the years afterwards, as the long-term harm to fisheries became clear, a court battle over damages dragged on for , and individuals and families suffered from what psychologists call collective or .
Nearly five months after the East Palestine derailment, residents are steeling themselves for what could prove to be a similar experience in the months and years ahead. As is often the case, divisions within the community are forming as environmental mitigation, legal proceedings and public-relations efforts by Norfolk Southern get underway.
鈥淎 lot of the communities are split 鈥� half of the people are sick, they鈥檙e pissed off, they鈥檙e trying to fight,鈥� Flint said. 鈥淭he other half are really just kind of acting like nothing鈥檚 wrong. They鈥檙e like, 鈥榃ell, the EPA has told us everything鈥檚 fine. Norfolk Southern is giving us a $25 million park now. That鈥檚 great.鈥欌€�
Community members have asked Ohio state officials and Norfolk Southern to fund independent environmental monitoring and health testing for impacted residents, as well as to cover temporary relocation and cleanup costs for those who may be at risk of continued exposure.
鈥淲e鈥檙e almost at five months, and there are people that have never gotten to leave their home, and never had their homes professionally cleaned, that have just been exposed continually, and that鈥檚 unacceptable,鈥� Flint said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 so much incomplete information going around that it鈥檚 made it very difficult for people to understand what we鈥檙e really dealing with.鈥�
Junod noted about railroad liability insurance following a caused by an oil-train derailment in Lac-M茅gantic, Canada. Insurers at the time offered liability coverage of up to $1.5 billion for the largest rail operators; Norfolk Southern has said it鈥檚 insured for losses of up to in the wake of the East Palestine accident. But even in rural areas, damages can far exceed those amounts.
鈥淓ast Palestine is the most recent, it is not unique. Most of these are happening in towns about that size or even smaller,鈥� Junod said. 鈥淲e have a market failure that cannot cover, I鈥檓 not even going to say a worst-case scenario, (just) a bad-case scenario. It just will not address the magnitude of the potential impact 鈥� economic loss, and then, of course, human loss.鈥�
The 鈥榮hort line to Zion鈥�
Eastbound trains approach the curve at the base of Winter Park slowly. Past the bunny slopes and the resort鈥檚 bare-bones Amtrak stop, they cross a short bridge over the Fraser River and an access road.
Then they disappear into darkness.
Mile 263: Rollinsville
Railroad tycoon David Moffat didn鈥檛 live to see the completion 鈥� or even the beginning 鈥� of the 6.2-mile tunnel under the Continental Divide that bears his name. He died nearly penniless in New York in 1911, having exhausted his fortune trying and failing to end a half-century of frustration by building a direct transcontinental route over the Rocky Mountains west of Denver.
Incorporated in 1902, the Denver, Northwestern & Pacific Railway, better known as the 鈥淢offat Road,鈥� was the final attempt to realize what had become a lifelong fixation for Moffat, who had previously surveyed potential routes across the Divide as president of the Denver & Rio Grande in the 1880s.
The Moffat Road achieved a partial victory in 1904, when it built what was to be a temporary line across Rollins Pass, at an elevation of nearly 12,000 feet. But tracks were subsequently laid only as far as the Yampa River Valley, never reaching Salt Lake City to complete the 鈥溾€� that Moffat had promised, and the high costs of building and maintaining the railroad in the near-constant blizzard conditions atop the mountains bankrupted the company before work on a long-planned tunnel could begin.
It took more than a decade of effort following Moffat鈥檚 death, and a large public subsidy raised by a new , for crews to finally start digging. The Moffat Tunnel鈥檚 construction was among the largest and most dangerous infrastructure projects in Colorado history, costing an estimated $410 million in 2022 dollars and resulting in the deaths of 28 workers. Today, the tunnel is still owned by the state, and rented out to Union Pacific on a that expires in 2025.
Alongside the main tunnel, a service shaft used by workers during construction today serves a different purpose: transporting up to 100,000 acre-feet of water annually from the Colorado River Basin to the Front Range to be used by the Denver Water system.
On the Western Slope, it takes eastbound trains more than 150 miles to gradually climb from 5,200 feet in elevation near Rifle to the west entrance of the Moffat Tunnel at 9,200 feet. But after exiting the tunnel on the other side of the Divide, trains reverse that gain in a 4,000-foot descent that takes fewer than 50 miles as they charge down the steep eastern face of the Front Range into Denver.
Much of that descent comes in the narrow gorges of the South Boulder Creek watershed, alongside flows that in large part are diverted into the creek by the Moffat service tunnel.
鈥淕ross Reservoir is mostly Fraser River water, with some South Boulder Creek water,鈥� Klancke said. 鈥淪o a spill there 鈥� Denver could lose a large percentage of their water supply to the north end.鈥�
Denver Water, which serves more than 1.5 million people in the city and surrounding suburbs, oversees a large system with three water treatment plants and reservoirs in multiple watersheds, giving it 鈥渟ome flexibility to pull water from different sources鈥� in the event of a major spill, a spokesperson wrote in an email. But Jim Lochhead, the utility鈥檚 CEO, wrote to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg earlier this year about mitigating the risks posed by the Uinta Basin Railway.
鈥淲e joined nearby counties, organizations, elected officials and coalitions to request that more be done to protect Colorado鈥檚 water if the project is approved, including analysis of rail safety practices, an assessment of the health of railroad infrastructure through this corridor, and assistance to local authorities in preparing for 鈥� and responding to 鈥� a spill, including response plans for each county,鈥� said Denver Water鈥檚 Jimmy Luthye.
Klancke and others in Trout Unlimited鈥檚 Headwaters chapter like to say they鈥檙e 鈥渘ot a fishing club,鈥� but an environmental organization 鈥渨ith members who like to fish.鈥� In such a fragile environment, near the very source of a river that so many people across Colorado and the West depend on, that attitude is born out of necessity. From Grand County, it鈥檚 not possible to travel any further upstream; damage done here, whether by a catastrophic oil spill or the mounting drought and wildfire risks posed by climate change, could very well be permanent.
鈥淥ur chapter, we live at ground zero,鈥� Klancke said. 鈥淎nd we feel if we can鈥檛 save these rivers, then all the rest of the rivers in Colorado on the Western Slope are lost, too.鈥�
