Stagnant economy leads to stalled development near Geiger Spur

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Plans for a transload facility in Airway Heights have been put on hold – for now

By RYAN LANCASTER

Staff Reporter

When it opened in early 2009, the 3.5-mile Geiger Spur rail line was much more than a replacement for track that had previously nudged onto Fairchild Air force Base. Many saw the new $6.8 million line not only as a way to preserve a regional rail connection for existing industries, but also as a force for new growth across the West Plains.

Last January, drivers were being warned that they should expect momentary delays a few times a week where the spur crossed Highway 902 on its way from Airway Heights toward the Palouse and Coulee City Railroad junction near Medical Lake. But thanks in part to a still-stalled economy, the only thing motorists should expect these days as they cruise past the railroad crossing is the sight of about 100 rail cars stretched out on the track to the north and south of the road.

A few area residents were concerned that the cars near SR-902, which haven't moved since last summer, might contain toxic chemicals after hearing reports of tanker cars filled with sodium chlorate being stowed on tracks in southern Washington. A spokesperson for British Columbia-based Canexus said the company will store about 4,000 pounds of the chemical, which is used to treat drinking water, on unused tracks near Belmont, Wash. in order to accommodate construction at their Vancouver facility.

Unless you're in the railroad business, however, the cars parked on the Geiger Spur line are nothing to worry about, according to John Howell, general manager of the Eastern Washington Gateway Railroad. He said all of the cars are empty and most belong to a Wyoming-based refinery that uses them to transport non-hazardous asphalt for road paving during the warmer months. Others are used to transport coal.

Howell said his company, which operates the rail line for Spokane County, gets about $2 a day for each car stored on the track; not much, but it helps offset costs during a slow period. “When EWGR and the county agreed to take over the line we took over maintenance and the signal there, all of that costs money,” he said.

The spur serves five Airway Heights-based industrial manufacturers, Howell said, with steel manufacturers like Metals Fabrication Co. and Seaport Steel making up the bulk of rail use. When business is slow in the manufacturing sector it affects everybody down the line, since these shippers pay EWGR to use the rail on a per car charge basis. Howell said there was a roughly 40 percent drop in volume on the spur from 2008 to 2009.

“It costs more in maintenance than we're earning through shipping,” he said. “We're trying to make up for that and keep the line viable by different methods, and one of those is by storing cars there.”

Spokane county engineer Chad Coles, who was project manager on the Geiger Spur, said he's still hopeful the line will bring new business to the area despite a sluggish first year.

“The folks who were rail dependent before are still there, although steel manufacturers and all the other businesses served have likely seen their own businesses slow down.” he said.

Plans for a nearby transload and logistics facility, where businesses can transfer freight from trucks to railcars, is on hold indefinitely due to lack of funds, Coles said. While there is no timeline for moving ahead, a site in the southeastern corner of Airway Heights has been set aside and Coles said the county is searching out both public and private sources of funding for the estimated $3 million project.

Once the economy turns around, which Coles believes it will soon, the area's infrastructure will serve as a big draw. “A lot of industries would do well there,” he said. “Anyone looking for that mix of being near a freeway, airport and rail line.”

Ryan Lancaster can be reached at [email protected].