Neighbors question state officials who call rail pollution harmless.

Byline: Diane Dietz The Register-Guard

Repeatedly using the word "safe," state environmental and health officials tried to reassure 50 Eugene residents on Thursday that the pollution underfoot on their properties will not harm them.

In the River Road neighborhood, north of the railroad tracks, residents needn't worry about low levels of railroad solvents in their well water, and the mild concentrations can't sift up through the soils and contaminate the air in their houses, said Greg Aitken, project manager with the state Department of Environmental Quality.

"Regardless of whatever neighborhood you live in," he said, "we believe you are safe."

But Aitken faced a tough audience that peppered him with questions about the agency's interpretations of the data, its goals for the cleanup of the large swath of underground contamination and its ability to resist influence by the Union Pacific Railroad, which is paying for the cleanup under a voluntary agreement with the state.

"I have a hard time believing in (your) independence when the railroad is paying for these tests," said River Road resident Juan Carlos Valle from a back row in the large room at the American Red Cross building.

"I second that," said Trainsong resident Mike Banks from the front row.

The pollution is the result of degreaser spilled on the ground through decades of operations at the rail yard in west Eugene. The DEQ has investigated the pollution for 13 years. Most recently, Union Pacific, under supervision of the DEQ, placed white plastic vapor barriers under a half dozen homes in the Trainsong neighborhood, south of the tracks, where the agency suspects vapors from the groundwater pollution is rising up through the soil and into crawl spaces and potentially into people's homes.

While the DEQ has raised concerns about solvent vapors at seven homes in the Trainsong neighborhood, state Public Health Division officials targeted 11 homes because of elevated solvent levels found in the crawl spaces in recent years. The difference between the environmental agency and the health agency is that the former is trying to determine what solvents the railroad is responsible for cleaning up and the latter is strictly concerned with what solvents residents of the neighborhood are breathing.

"From a health perspective, we don't get into the question of source," said epidemiologist Jae Douglas of the Public Health Division.

In previous years, tests at the 11 homes found levels of solvents associated with as many as 5.4 additional cancer cases per 10,000 people, which is above state and federal health guidelines, Douglas said.

The levels of solvents, however, fell dramatically in tests conducted in August and were below concentrations believed to cause excess cancers. But since state officials don't know why the levels fell, they can't be sure they won't soar again - so Douglas termed vapors at the 11 homes an "indeterminate health hazard" and asked for additional rounds of testing.

"The good news is we have these nice low levels. The uncertainty is, are they going to stay low?" Douglas said.

Eugene City Councilor Andrea Ortiz announced the creation of a community action committee on the pollution.

She expressed continued frustration with trying to get Union Pacific's attention regarding conditions at the yard, which she termed an overall blight on the neighborhood.

"They have endless banks of money," she said. "How are we going to get them to talk to us?"

A man in the audience stood and introduced himself as Brock Nelson, the newly appointed director of public affairs for Union Pacific's western region.

"I'm going to do my best to work with you going forward," he said.

Information helps, said Trainsong neighbor Chris Daugenti, who lives near the heaviest pollution concentrations at Bethel Avenue and Haig Street.

"I definitely feel a little bit better but I'm up in the air until they definitely say it's OK to live there," he said. "The limbo thing we're in right now is uneasy."