It has been about five months since mudslides pushed trees and soil down the bluffs along the Blackhawk Heights and High Points subdivisions in eastern Iowa, and residents are still trying to find a way to stabilize their properties, The Hawk Eye reports.

Land along the bluffs over the Mississippi River continues to decrease in size. One homeowner has had to put a barrier in his backyard. Preferring not to be identified, he pointed out along the far side of his property where another portion of his yard had sunk.

"This will be the next part that goes down the hill. Every time they clean off the tracks, we lose more land."

The property owner said people in the Blackhawk Subdivision agreed not to talk to anyone about the issue until it was resolved.

Amy McBeth, director of public affairs at BNSF, said BNSF and the property owners are working together on the problem.

"We've had conversations with the Blackhawk Heights landowners," McBeth said. "We're working with them. We've been sharing engineering analysis and right now we're considering our options. There are a variety of things based on what the engineering office tells us. I wouldn't want to get into any of them at this point because we're still considering it.

"Part of it is a financial decision," she continued. "We need to evaluate what we can do. We're evaluating what makes sense to do."

City Manager Byron Smith said the mudslides are a new development in Fort Madison.

"With all the rain we got this year, the property owners up there have started seeing a lot of problems," he said.

Since a major mudslide in the spring that blocked BNSF's tracks, Smith said railroad personnel have been dispatched to the area almost daily to clean the tracks.

Fort Madison's old water treatment plant could be affected. And while the city's new treatment plant recently came online, the city is keeping a wary eye on the bluffs.

"Even though we are planning to close the old water treatment plant, there is a water line that needs to be completed with the new plant before the old one is closed," Smith said. "We might be running the old plant a day or two a week before we close it. Because of that, we are going to watch the issue."

Smith hopes property owners will work out their dispute with BNSF.

"I haven't been involved with any of the meetings of the property owners," he said, "but I think they are going to BNSF to tell them that they think the problem is that of BNSF. My understanding is that BNSF owns quite a bit of property up the hill, and it is their property that has eaten away into the other property. Unfortunately it might have to get settled in the courts."