A Burlington Northern Santa Fe spokesperson could not confirm on Thursday if the railroad will be dropping its lawsuit against Kootenai County, now that the commissioners have signed a document approving new safety conditions for the train refueling station in Hauser.

"Once the order as submitted is signed, we can dismiss the lawsuit," said BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas on Thursday afternoon, adding that the railroad is waiting for verification on the document's status.

He could not say if that meant the company intended to drop the suit.

The commissioners on Thursday signed an order of decision finalizing changes to the permit conditions for BNSF's 500,000-gallon refueling station, which sits over the Rathdrum-Prairie Aquifer, the drinking water source for half a million.

The signing ends the county's two-year effort to add more safety regulations at the facility, prompted by its five-year compliance review in 2009. The process has been marked with workshops, site visits and a lawsuit from the railroad.

"These were conditions that we felt necessary to continue the safe operation and help protection the public in case of a spill," Commissioner Todd Tondee said after the signing.

Commissioner Jai Nelson said the county believed the signing of the new conditions would garner the end of the lawsuit from Texas-based Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad.

"That's our understanding," she said, adding that the county hadn't heard updates from the railroad yet on the issue. "There's no official agreement to that."

When the county commissioners initially proposed permit amendments in 2010, BNSF responded with a lawsuit stating that the county had no authority to impose permitting conditions.

Although Melonas was not authorized to speak on Thursday about the railroad's opinion of the new conditions, he assured the facility has been functioning without issue since recent safety enhancements.

"The system is functioning as designed, that being to safely operate and protect the environment," Melonas said.

The modified conditions approved on Thursday included added details recommended earlier this summer by the hearing examiner.

The changes specify action to be taken in case of a fuel leak at the facility, and also add more environmental safeguards.

Under the conditions, BNSF must report a leak to the Department of Environmental Quality within 24 hours of discovery. The DEQ, as stated under Idaho statute, can shut the facility down temporarily if it sees fit.

The railroad must also continue to provide funding for a staff position at the DEQ aquifer protection program to inspect and monitor the facility.

Previously, BNSF had only been committed to funding the position for 10 years. At the end of that decade, funding will continue at $100,000 per year, for as long as the facility is operating under the permit.

The railroad will also be required to develop a groundwater-monitoring plan, to be reviewed and approved by DEQ. Slant wells on the site will also be checked annually.

Tondee had voted to approve the conditions at a hearing last month.

The commissioners made just enough modifications to be totally prepared for a leak, he said, like the one that occurred soon after the facility opened in 2004.

"This clarifies what happens" if a leak occurs, Tondee said.

Commissioner Dan Green, who had also voted in favor of the permit changes, agreed the modifications enhanced water quality protection.

Nelson had cast the lone vote against approval, over concern that the conditions didn't specify a fast track for DEQ to shut down the facility after a leak.

She would prefer the agency not have to go through a court process to do so, she said.

Still, she wasn't dissatisfied with the document she signed on Thursday.

"I think it's as strong as the county could make it," she said.