State railroad seeks help in weed war

ANCHORAGE - Public outcry has helped keep herbicide off the tracks of Alaska's state-owned railroad for more than a quarter of a century. A persistent weed problem and threats from federal regulators to slow or halt trains has Alaska Railroad officials applying again for help with its weed war.

The railroad has applied to spray glyphosate-based herbicide on the Seward rail yard and 30 miles of track south of Anchorage to kill cow parsnip, dandelion, sweet clover and foxtail that shoots up between the rails.

Plants and roots between rails hold moisture and impede drainage, causing ties to rot faster and keeping ballast soggy, making it unstable. Vegetation is potential fuel for fires and prevents inspectors from spotting defects in ties, rails and fasteners.

Fewer protesters showed up at public hearings last month and railroad officials hope they will win approval for herbicide for use in 2010.

"As far as we're aware of, we're the only railroad in the United States that does not use some sort of chemical weed killer," said railroad spokesman Tim Thompson.

That's the way it should be, said Pam Miller, director of Alaska Community Action on Toxics and a veteran campaigner against the use of weed killer between the rails. The poison could end up in salmon habitat, drinking water and berries picked by subsistence gatherers, she said.

A permit will lead to the railroad expanding the use of chemicals to the rest of the 500-mile line, she said, when it has not tried hard enough to find other ways to fight weeds.

"They have not given a fair assessment of the range of alternatives that would preclude the need for using herbicides," Miller said of the railroad.

The Alaska railroad took shape when Alaska was a territory. Congress in 1914 approved money to build the line and it stayed in federal hands until 1985, when it was sold to the state.

The line starts in Seward on Resurrection Bay, goes north through Anchorage, the Matanuska Valley, Denali National Park, and it ends in Fairbanks, crossing two mountain ranges, major rivers and tracts of spectacular scenery.

No herbicide has been applied to the tracks under state ownership. A railroad application in 2006 was rejected because of its threat to water.

The railroad scaled back its application, proposing an herbicide that has the same active ingredient as Roundup, a common garden herbicide, plus a wetting agent.

The manufacturer claims the herbicide, Aquamaster, is safe for use in water but the railroad has a proposed buffer zone of 100 feet around water bodies.

"They've done a better job of mitigating the concerns people raised last time," said Kristin Ryan, director of the state Environmental Health Division.

State regulators set aside 60 days for public comment - twice the requirement. Three public meetings in August, however, drew just 10-15 people each. It helped that the railroad did not apply to spray near hotbeds of past opposition north of Anchorage.

Miller blames the low turnout on holding hearings in the summer.

"Alaskans are involved in subsistence activities, often in remote locations," she said. "A lot more people would have participate in public hearings had they been held in the fall."

The railroad promised to hold off on spraying until a two-year University of Alaska study on the herbicide was done. Railroad officials applied after one year, citing threats by the Federal Railroad Administration to slow down trains or even stop some routes because of the recurring vegetation problem, and enough data from the first year to indicate the herbicide will break down quickly and not migrate.

Miller said the opposition remains, and resolutions against herbicide passed by communities along the Railbelt - the Denali, Mat-Su and Kenai Peninsula boroughs, the Native village of Eklutna and the Talkeetna Community Council - still stand.

Thompson said critics contention that other methods of controlling weeds have not been tried is not borne out by the record, or by other railroads. Rail officials have compiled pages of data on the railroad Web site to make their case.

"Probably the best way to look at it is, if there is an alternative method that that does work, then I would envision that other railroads would also be using it as well," Thompson said, "and none of them are."

State environmental regulators are collecting testimony on the railroad's application until Tuesday. A decision expected over the winter.

"If we decide there is no unreasonable adverse effect, we would grant the permit," Ryan said.

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On the Net:

Alaska Railroad herbicide application: http://www.dec.state.ak.us/eh/pest/publicnotice.htm

Alaska Railroad vegetation management: http://www.akrr.com/arrc327.html

Alaska Community Action on Toxics: http://www.akaction.org/