Union Pacific rejects city's plea to halt rail service
Demolition of Centennial Mills shell to begin Friday
Union Pacific Railroad is resuming train operation near the burned-out shell of Centennial Mills in spite of warnings from the city of Portland.
"Passing trains could trigger the collapse of the building," City Administrator Raymond Lee said at a news briefing this morning.
Lee said engineers have advised the city that vibrations from trains could destabilize the warehouse, though conceding that the city’s authority to stop them is "very limited."
Union Pacific advised the city that it has set up a ballast shield train, consisting of train cars filled with rock, standing idle on the rail track nearest to the structure, forming a barrier to protect freight trains passing through the collapse zone.
Amtrak has suspended rail passenger service between Portland and Seattle through Friday, using buses between Seattle and Portland in the meantime.
Demolition of the warehouse is slated to begin Friday, Aug. 14.
As I've said: make the owner tear it down, if he doesn't within a week, declare eminent domain and the city can tear it down. It is a public safety issue and needs to be dealt with immediately
It’s almost like the city should have forced the owner to immediately deal with this known risk instead of giving him two weeks at the expense of health/safety/commerce in the area.