On Jan. 4, a trestle collapsed at Corvallis’ Avery Park, causing a rail car to fall into Marys River and spill 150,000 pounds of urea fertilizer into the water. The trestle, privately owned by Portland & Western Railroad (PNWR), had previously been damaged by a fire in May 2022 that burned for nine hours.
“A primary concern was just the material [urea fertilizer] entering the water… particularly from ammonia, which can be created when urea combines with water,” said Oregon Department of Environmental Quality representative Dylan Darling. The DEQ sampled for ammonia levels in the water, with Darling saying that no “immediate high risk to fish” was found.
While this situation is relatively small, fertilizer spills can be disastrous in rivers. Last year in Red Oak, Iowa, there was a 265,000-gallon fertilizer spill that took place in the East Nishnabotna River. This spill, caused by a clogged line at a plant owned by multimillion-dollar company NEW Cooperative, traveled around 60 miles downstream killing 750,000 fish. The Iowa Capital Dispatch mentioned outrage from the state’s Department of Natural Resources. The Iowa DNR lobbied for higher fines, with their lawyer valuing the ecological damage at $226,000. So far in Corvallis, there has been no talk of fining PNWR for the incident.
There is also the matter of how or if drinking water has been affected at the water system uptake. “The closest water system was nine miles downstream and did not operate their water treatment plant for three days directly following the incident,” Erica Heartquest, public health communication officer for the Oregon Health Authority, told The Commuter. She also mentioned how high water levels at the time of the collapse likely had lessened the impact of the fertilizer.
Tom Ciuba, a representative for PNWR, addressed if the 2022 fire played a role in the collapse. When asked if there were repairs to the bridge following the fire, Ciuba told The Commuter that PNWR had the bridge looked at by engineers: “The team identified some rail, crossties, and bridge caps that needed to be replaced around where the fire occurred. Once those repairs were made, the bridge was then inspected again by engineers for structural integrity before traffic resumed.”
Residents seemed skeptical about the safety of the bridge pre-collapse; while some were surprised by this event, others found it to be all too predictable.
In a r/Corvallis Reddit thread titled “Avery Park train bridge finally collapsed,” locals shared their opinions on the incident. Many expressed anger, with one user writing, “Ridiculous, it broke exactly where it was burn damaged.” In another comment, a user stated, “Who decided to keep using the bridge to carry loaded cars after it burned? There needs to be some accountability.”
Many others repeated these sentiments, expressing anger at P&W for perceived negligence, but Ciuba said, “There is no indication at this time that the 2022 fire is related to this month’s collapse.”
However, the Corvallis Police Department states that the collapse was due to a structural failure. Whether or not the fire damage is why the trestle collapsed, the event has called into question PNWR’s management of the structure.
PNWR, along with its parent company Genesee & Wyoming, are no strangers to controversy. In 2023, G&W settled in a suit filed by the EPA for breaking regulations outlined in the Clean Air Act.
On the hiring website Indeed, former employees of PNWR’s parent company, Genesee & Wyoming, have mixed reviews about working conditions. Some say they appreciate the benefits and job security, while others lament bad management. Some mention management’s lack of care, dangerous working conditions, and lower pay than similar jobs.
Their treatment of employees came to a head in June of 2023 when 31 workers were allegedly unlawfully fired for attempting to unionize and a suit was filed against them by a rail division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters labor union.
Luckily for Portland & Western Railroad, Marys River has come out of this situation relatively unharmed.
This article originally appeared in the February 2025 edition of The Commuter.
