Silverton – In this tourist town wedged against the San Juan Mountains, a veil of white smoke drifts into the valley and signals the arrival of the the black steam locomotive and its string of yellow cars.
“Smoke’s here. Train’s a-coming,” says one local storekeeper, ambling inside a trinket shop full of painted coffee cups and other gewgaws.
On cue, the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad’s lumbering, grease-encrusted iron horse chugs in, depositing dozens of cash-toting tourists – some with coal-smudged faces.
While the Durango railroad is a major Colorado tourist draw, the train’s smoke is now the target of state environmental regulators concerned about the output of soot, ash and sulfur.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is questioning whether the Durango railroad and the state’s 16 other historic steam engines should be regulated to control emissions.
If that happens, the trains could be asked to install pollution-reducing technology.
That’s a move some local elected officials say could financially drain the railroads, including Durango’s, which generates more than $100 million in economic activity annually.
“I feel like the state has made some pretty strong threats,” said state Rep. Mark Larson, R-Cortez. “I personally do not like them being that aggressive with the train.”
Debating exemptions
Railroad operators contend state regulations do not apply because a provision in the Clean Air Act exempts locomotives built before 1973.
Until recently, the state health department had tacitly accepted the railroads’ position, staying out of their operations.
But new smoke complaints in Durango have prompted the state health department to take a look at the trains, said Margie Perkins, head of the air pollution control division.
“We’ve established our position that the pre-emption does not exist,” Perkins said.
In addition, the state has its own rules on smoke, she said, “and those regulations apply here.”
Burning coal can release pollutants that include heavy metals, sulfur and nitrogen oxides, according to a report by the Washington-based Union of Concerned Scientists.
Most industries that burn coal – such as electric utilities and steel mills – are regulated.
While a locomotive doesn’t burn as much coal as a power plant, the amounts are still large.
An eight-hour round-trip train ride from Durango to Silverton burns 6 tons of coal.
During the summer season, five trains usually leave the depot each day, using 30 tons a day.
Xcel Energy Inc.’s 144- megawatt Arapahoe coal-fired power plant in Denver burns 600,000 tons of coal a year – about 1,643 tons a day, based on a 2003 federal report.
Smoke gets in their eyes
Nowhere in Colorado is train smoke a hotter issue than in Durango.
For more than a decade, residents of a south Durango neighborhood have complained about smoke from the downtown train depot.
They say that about five years ago, train smoke was so bad that light-colored pets would turn shades of black and that clothes hanging on a clothesline would be stained after a few hours.
One resident’s oxygen tank filter turned charcoal gray when exposed to the train smoke, said Jerry Swingle, a neighborhood resident.
“I can’t think of anything more obnoxious than that,” Swingle said.
In response to community complaints, the railroad installed $500,000 worth of scrubbers on the roundhouse to filter smoke from the train in 2001.
The railroad also began using diesel engines to switch the cars out each evening to reduce smoke from idling trains.
Railroad managers say those measures drastically curtailed the volume of smoke wafting through Durango.
Jeff Jackson, chief operating officer for American Heritage Railways, owner of the Durango train, owns a home in south Durango.
Before the scrubbers were installed, Jackson said, there were a few nights he might not sleep with the windows open.
Today, it’s a different story.
“I think a lot of railroads’ attitude is, ‘Sorry, we were here first,”‘ Jackson said. “If you don’t like it, leave.”
“But from Day One, our attitude has been that we were confident we could find some middle ground to address the community’s concerns,” Jackson said.
In fact, few complaints had been lodged since the scrubbers were installed.
Last summer, however, the smoke was as bad as ever, some residents say.
Railroad officials said part of the smoke problem was due to workers’ failing to manage the fires while the locomotives were parked at the depot at night.
They also acknowledge the scrubbers have been expensive to run and have malfunctioned in cold weather.
The railroad has convened a task force to look at additional ways to reduce smoke.
Among the options being considered: moving the pit where train ash is dumped; installing an additional scrubber; and making sure coal is being burned efficiently.
While the railroad is open to making more changes, it won’t abandon coal as a power source, Jackson said.
“As a business that has a $110 million economic impact on the state, no one benefits if we get entangled in a protracted legal battle with the state of Colorado,” Jackson said.
“But we have to be practical in our understanding that we’re not going to entirely eliminate smoke, either,” he said.
Money matters
Dan Ranger, director of the Tourist Railway Association, said there are about 186 coal- fired steam engines in the nation, and only the state of Maryland has raised issues about regulating smoke.
Ranger said most railroads – except Durango – would have difficulty paying for pollution- reducing equipment, as many face increased costs for safety and insurance.
“If the state wants to regulate us, they should be prepared to pay the bill,” said Leo Schmitz, director of the Antonito-based Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad Commission.
Even if the railroads could pay for the equipment, Ranger said, smoke is part of the tourist railway experience.
“That’s how you know the town’s economy is heating up – you smell the smoke,” Ranger said.
The state Air Quality Control Commission, which sets state air policy, is slated to discuss the issue at its August meeting after a report from Commissioner Jim Evans.
“At this point, I’m not aware of any other communities outside of Durango raising an issue,” Evans said. “But I think the railroads are concerned that if the state uses a heavy hand with them, it could affect others.”
If the state does regulate the trains, the railroads say they’ll try to get legislation establishing a pre-emption into state law.
“This is not an amusement ride,” said Al Harper, owner of the Durango train. “If you want to ride an electric-powered train, go to Disneyland.”
Staff writer Kim McGuire can be reached at 303-820-1240 or kmcguire@denverpost.com.
