Two Oregon rail-shipping centers promoted as a way to reduce truck emissions and lower costs for farmers remain largely inactive, nearly a decade after state lawmakers approved funding for them. The Treasure Valley Reload Center in Nyssa is unfinished, while the Mid-Willamette Valley Intermodal Center in Millersburg is used to move only a few rail cars of roofing materials each week. More than $70 million in public funds, including state and county money, has been spent or committed to the projects. Oregon Department of Transportation policy and planning manager Erik Havig gave the update Thursday to the state Transportation Commission. “Unfortunately, they ran into some operational challenges,” he said. The projects received grants from a $50 million rail-facility fund included in the 2017 transportation package, a $5.3 billion plan financed through taxes and fees. Supporters said the centers would shift freight from highways to trains, cut emissions and strengthen agricultural exports. In Nyssa, the completed rail infrastructure is awaiting the rest of the facility. Malheur County does not have the money to finish construction and is entering an agreement with Wyoming Colorado Railroad, which would complete the work, lease the center and later buy it from the county, according to ODOT spokesperson Matt Noble. The center was expected to help onion growers save $2 million a year shipping produce to Midwest and East Coast markets. By 2024, the project was $18 million over budget and more than two years behind schedule. The Millersburg center, near Interstate 5, was designed to ship hay and grass seed by rail to ports in Seattle and Tacoma, potentially removing as many as 150 trucks a day from I-5. It opened in November 2022, 10 months late and $10 million over budget. Its current roofing-material shipments amount to a few train cars each week, Havig told commissioners. Linn County is also discussing a possible biodiesel operation with Orion, which would bring fuel by train from Gulf states, transfer it to trucks and distribute it in the Northwest. The company still needs to finish containment systems and obtain local permits. Linn County Commissioner Roger Nyquist has told state officials he hopes operations could begin later this year or early next year, Havig said. The projects’ difficulties reflect concerns raised by industry experts during planning. They questioned whether the Millersburg site was far enough from Washington ports for rail to be economical and warned that both facilities needed firm commitments from Union Pacific and BNSF. Neither railroad made long-term or explicit agreements to work with the centers. Transportation Commission Chair Julie Brown, the only current commissioner who reviewed and approved the proposals, and Commissioner Lee Beyer, who voted for the funding as a state senator, said they saw a case for moving freight from roads to rail. Beyer said a lesson from the projects was not to build a rail facility without more input from shippers. State Rep. Greg Smith, a Republican from Heppner who championed funding for the centers, did not respond to requests for comment. Smith later worked as a consultant for economic-development groups connected to both counties. Linn County Economic Development Group president John Pascone said Smith earned between $150,000 and $200,000 for his Linn County work, which ended in July 2019. Reporting by the Malheur Enterprise cited payments of $15,000 a month for Smith’s Malheur County work from 2018 to 2022. The centers’ limited activity leaves their promised benefits for farmers, highway users and emissions reductions largely unrealized, while local governments pursue new operators and uses for facilities built with substantial public investment.