It's pretty unlikely that the City of Minneapolis leaked the large quantities of what appears to be heavy fuel oil into the Bassett Creek bogs. The rate and volume with which this oil is coming out of the bog suggest a large quantity, far more than would have leaked from some of the diesel fuel storage tanks at the school districts transportation center or leaking from vehicles crushed just upstream. This volume seems to have only one likely source- a railroad. So instead of covering and ducking, Minneapolis needs to bring the Potentially Responsible Parties (PeRPs) to justice and make them pay for cleaning up Bassett Creek.
The valley of Bassett Creek was blessed with several railroads. The Minnesota Western "Luce Line" pretty much followed the creek for several miles. Great Northern, Minneapolis, Northfield, and Southern, and Minneapolis and St.Louis tracks crossed the Bassett Creek valley just upstream from our now oil enriched Heritage Park. The railroads started using diesel powered locomotives in the 1930s, bought diesels like crazy after World War II, and by the 60s the Steam engine had been largely banished from the rails. Diesel locomotives use fuel oil by the thousands of gallons, so locomotive maintainence facilities added huge fuel tanks as the diesel took over. By the 60s many of these railroads were in financial trouble and maintainence of much of their property, fuel storage tanks included, was deferred. At the time diesel fuel cost 30 cents a gallon, and half of that was tax that the railroads were exempt from. At those prices many commercial users could afford to ignore the leakage of even thousands of gallons from storage tanks.
My first suspicion was that the Minneapolis and St.Louis Railroad's main shops complex in Kenwood might be the source of our newfound oil, This site is a mile to the south though, and there is some question if seepage from that location would run towards Bassett Creek or Cedar Lake. I scratched my head and tried to think of any other railroad shops in the area, coming up with a mental blank. This morning while cleaning out the garage (gotta make room for the new VW Diesel) I found my missing and well worn pile of topo maps- I knew I saved them for some reason... Looking at the Minneapolis South Quadrangle map, 1972 revision, I noted a long rectangular building in the middle of the Great Northern yards a quarter mile south of our new gusher- the telltale footprint of a diesel locomotive maintence shop! I vaguely remember seeing a building there, but can't remember any details. Anyone remember this building and if it had fuel tanks? The topo map shows this building about where Public Works now stores equipment and materials- as long as the city has custody perhaps some examination of the site for tank footings and maybe soil testing would be wise?
Two other railroads could have had locomotive facilities with fuel tanks also- the Minneapolis, Northfield, and Southern and the Minnesota Western both remained independent long enough to employ diesel locomotives and the relevant fuel oil storage tanks. Unfortunately I have been unable to find out where they were, but both railroads had stations nearby and these are likely sites for fuel storage tanks also. With the our library and it's excellent Minneapolis history collection closed today that's the most I can surmise from memory, the web, and old topo maps.
So Minneapolis, let's quit trying to hide this oily, dirty little secret and 'fess up to it. Who knows, some retired railroad worker might see the story on TV and tell us where this pollution is coming from. All of the railroads I've mentioned have been bought or merged into successor corporations that our quite solvent- lets find the Potentially Responsible Parties (PeRPs and turn our attorneys loose on 'em, and force these PeRPs to clean up our Bassett Creek valley.
on the high ground in Hawthorne,
Dyna Sluyter
TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.)
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