The Federal Environmental Protection Agency and Union Pacific Railroad have completed a major cleanup from damage done to the Sacramento River in the Dunsmuir area over the course of more than a Century. Dunsmuir has long been a railroad town, and the ecological damage has been significant from leaking oil tanks that were used to fuel locomotives since the early 1900s in the rail yard directly on the banks of the Upper Sacramento River. In 2019 the California Department of Fish and Wildlife requested an investigation by the E.P.A. and the cleanup began in 2021. Last year, habitat restoration included the removal of a 1,400 foot long concrete and wood retaining wall that narrowed and restricted the flow of the river. More than 75,000 Gallons of oil and more than 100,000 Tons of oil-contaminated soil was excavated from the rail yard and replaced with clean barrier sand and vegetative soils. The water quality control board will continue to monitor and regulate the site.
-Steve Gibson