Rails to Trails

Formation Environmental personnel assisted the Union Pacific Railroad in the preparation of an Engineering Evaluation/Cost Analysis to address releases or threatened releases of metals from mining-related materials included in the approximate 71-mile-long unused rail line extending from Wallace, Idaho to Plummer, Idaho.  A portion of that rail line traverses the Bunker Hill Superfund Site.  The recommended removal action consisted of converting the rail line to a recreational trail while simultaneously using capping methodologies (e.g., asphalt, road base, etc.) to eliminate direct contact pathways for both recreational and residential exposure settings and to limit mobilization of metals from the railbed materials.  Institutional controls were also imposed to preserve the caps into the future.