A new truck refueling station is coming to the state line and with it, a 12,000-gallon diesel tank right over the Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer.
Kootenai County Commissioners tentatively approved the tank but expressed concerns about its environmental safety.
Is there a failsafe way to hold thousands of gallons of diesel over the region’s main source of drinking water? That’s the question Kootenai County Commissioners debated in their community development meeting Thursday.
"It's over the aquifer. We're continuing to grow," Commissioner Bruce Mattare said during the meeting. "You know, a little extra insurance, I think, in the end doesn't hurt in the long run for something as potentially toxic."
Mattare and Commissioner Marc Eberlein were in favor of adding extra safety requirements that go above and beyond Panhandle Health District’s best practices for diesel storage.
"It's very easy to find where disasters happen because of something that wasn't done properly," Eberlein said.
Commissioner Leslie Duncan was concerned that extra requirements were just extra government intrusion on private business.
But Mattare thought this situation posed enough risk that it merited special attention.
"We saw what happened over on Airway Heights when we had some fire retardant liquid get into the groundwater, and what a nightmare that was for people," Mattare said. "And so I understand the government intrusion side. But I would argue that when something bad happens, it affects a lot of other people and there's a lot more intrusion."
The planning department and health district now need to come back to the board with an updated containment plan for final approval.
