CSX to clean flaking paint from Ky. bridge

CSX Transportation will voluntarily remove flaking lead paint from a Bowling Green, Ky., railroad bridge that has been the subject of local fears about water and soil contamination. In a letter to the Superfund branch of the Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection, CSX's manager of environmental remediation, Paul J. Kurzanski noted that the state had agreed that the paint posed negligible impact on water life and that steps to remove contaminated soil were sufficient, but the company had decided to remove the paint anyway. Kurzanski said the company planned to begin work on removing the remaining paint on the bridge before the end of the year.

We previously reported on the bridge controversy, here and here, noting other aging railroad bridges across the country could face similar paint flaking issues. The push for CSX to clean up the soil below the bridge in Bowling Green was led by local philanthropist David Garvin. In December we reported the Superfund branch said it would tell CSX to address the flaking paint but would place no restrictions on how the company met that goal.