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Service and Cost Impacts of Landslides <br />Landslides not only present risks to passenger service operations, but also have social and <br />economic effects. Landslides can destroy or damage residential and commercial developments <br />and agricultural areas, and negatively affect water quality in rivers, lakes and the Puget Sound. <br />Increased development in landslide prone areas, deforestation and precipitation can all contribute <br />to higher landslide activity (Schuster 1996). <br />Direct costs of landslides, such as repair, replacement or maintenance, are more easily identified <br />than indirect costs, such as loss of property values, loss of tax revenue, loss of commercial <br />productivity and adverse effects to water quality (Schuster 1996). The Work Group evaluated <br />direct and indirect costs of landslides within the study corridor. <br />Direct Costs <br />Direct costs include capital improvement projects and maintenance costs, such as debris cleanup <br />and disposal. In most instances, BNSF must dispose of landslide debris offsite. Since 2008 direct <br />costs for BNSF, as a result of landslide impacts, are estimated at more than $10 million <br />(Table 1). This does not include losses associated with freight train delays. <br />Table 1. BNSF Railway Landslide Related Costs <br />Year <br />Expenditures <br />2013* <br />$4,041,000 <br />2012 <br />$2,442,000 <br />2011 <br />$796,000 <br />2010 <br />$2,628,000 <br />2009 <br />$374,000 <br />2008 <br />$110,000 <br />* Data through May 2013. <br />In addition to BNSF capital improvement projects, WSDOT has provided approximately $6.3 <br />million of federal funding for landslide mitigation efforts, with an additional $92,000 directly <br />from state funds. These expenditures represent progress on expected project costs budgeted at <br />$16.1 million in federal dollars and $304,000 in state funds. <br />The Port of Everett identified direct impacts from landslides in the corridor that included <br />property damage and interruption of seaport operations. For example, the Port spent significant <br />money cleaning and repairing stormwater treatment facilities (bioswales) and cleaning a public <br />access trail and Terminal Avenue due to slide damage (Figure 3). The Port cited difficulty <br />maintaining compliance with stormwater permit conditions when treatment facilities fill with <br />landslide debris. Landslide debris that spills across Terminal Avenue also impacts cargo staging <br />areas, construction projects and access to land needed for operations. <br />5 <br />