PALESTINE — RUSK — Texas Railroad Association (TSRA) officials said no matter who pays for the remediation efforts of a diesel spill at the Rusk depot, the funding will come out of Texas taxpayer pockets.

“Whether the spill belongs to us or to someone else it is still money from the taxpayers of the state of Texas,” TSRA chairman Steve Presley said. “Regardless, I'm not trying to attach blame to anyone it just needs to be taken care of.”

On Monday, the TSRA passed a resolution assuming responsibility for remediation efforts concerning a nearly 1,000-gallon diesel spill at the Rusk Depot on Feb. 29. In the process of cleaning up the mess, TSRA officials said they believe they ended up cleaning a spill from 1998 when the land was controlled by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). )

Following the Feb. 29 spill, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) gave the soil in the area a clean bill of health, but is now requiring the groundwater to be tested for chemicals.

“When the spill occurred, we cleaned up more than we spilled and there was still some there,” Presley said. “So the question of whether it should be monitored — the monitoring is really necessary because of some spill that occurred in the past.”

The TSRA resolution contained the condition of payment on whether TPWD would assume responsibility, which is something the department stated it is not willing to do.

“Although TPWD is sympathetic to the plight of the TSRR operator and the Texas State Railroad (Authority), it is TPWD's position that TPWD has no liability for the spill and, therefore, cannot contribute to the costs of clean-up and remediation,” Ann Bright, general council for TPWD stated in a letter to the TSRA.

The letter states the spill from 1998 was given a clean bill of health from TCEQ, and the TSRA took on the property as-is from the department, which now sits on land it no longer owns.

“Like TSRA, TPWD is a governmental entity with limited resources,” the letter states. “Consequently, TPWD is not in a position to provide financial assistance voluntarily without impacting other agency operations.”

TSRA's attorney Ronald Stutes said the authority may have taken over the land as-is, but was not told of the 1998 spill. He said if the railroad ceased operations, it would revert back to the department, and therefore it still has interest in the land.

“The contract agreement we have with Texas Parks and Wildlife says that they are not aware of the presence of any hazardous materials on the property or there have not been any releases of hazardous materials on the property,” he said.

“And while the first one could be true because they may have been under the impression that it was all cleaned up, the second part can not be true,” Stutes said.

Like the parks department, TSRA officials said it does not have the money to contribute to the spill. Presley said all the cash it has on hand was given by the state of Texas as match money for federal grants to improve the railroad. If the Authority used all of its set funding for remediation, it would have to save up fees paid by a railroad operator to continue projects.

The TSRA is also looking to the Texas Legislature for help. Presley said he has talked with Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst's office, Commissioner of Agriculture Todd Staples Office, State Sen. Robert Nichols and State Rep. Chuck Hopson to help find the funding.

“They are all trying to help,” Presley said. “We hope our politicians will try to find a way in the next session to refund that money back to us.”

The TSRA officials said they also have hopes of being included in a supplemental appropriations bill to be placed before the legislature. The bills are prepared by the Legislative Budget Board, whose chief responsibility is to prepare a baseline budget to put before the Legislature when it meets in January, said John Barton, staff spokesperson for the board.

The supplemental appropriations bill addresses emergency budgetary items or ones which came in over budget. He said the board simply makes a baseline bill, and the legislature debates and changes its contents before passing it.

“We have already started putting together a list of things that may be in the supplemental appropriations bill, but nothing can be done until the Legislature meets,” Barton said.

Barton said at this point it is too early to know if the TSRA's request is part of the discussions, but TSRA officials said they are hopeful.

“The ability to get money out of the state in the summer of an even-numbered year is real small,” Stutes said on Monday. “The ability to get money out of the state when the Legislature is in session, especially when we are talking about this level of money, is not real small.”

Presley said no matter who eventually foots the bill — the TSRA, TPWD or the Legislature — all of the funding can be traced back to Texas taxpayers. He said with a potential new operator coming in, rail lines will have to be upgraded and the TSRA has the potential to receive more grants for more rail improvements.

“It just makes sense (for the state) to assume the responsibility and move on and use this as an opportunity to grow some more and get some businesses here,” Presley said.