Maine Presses Railroad to Fix Roads, Culverts After Derailment

May 1, 2023

Maine environmental regulators have asked a railroad cleaning up a freight train derailment site to repair forest management roads and culverts damaged by heavy equipment and that led to the discharge of sediment into area waters.

State Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Melanie Loyzim in a letter Thursday to Canadian Pacific Kansas City said the equipment used to reach the derailment site in a rural area of Somerset County “crushed culverts and displaced soil in and adjacent to several streams,” and no attempts have been made to correct the damage.

“CPKC must immediately take measures to stabilize the access roads leading to the derailment site, stabilize all stream and culvert crossings, and prevent further discharges of sediment to waters of the state of Maine,” the letter said.

An email seeking comment was sent to a CPKC spokesperson on Saturday.

Three railroad employees were hurt when three locomotive engines and six train cars carrying lumber and electrical wiring went off the tracks on April 15 and started a small fire in the woods. Two cars carrying hazardous materials were also being hauled but they did not derail, spill or catch fire.

The derailment occurred near Rockwood, a town of about 300 people on Moosehead Lake, a prime recreational fishing area about 90 miles (140 kilometers) northwest of Bangor.

The Department of Environmental Protection earlier criticized CPKC for failing to meet the agency’s expectations with regards to response and timing “to effectively mitigate impacts to the environment and public health.”

Derailments and railroad safety have been a growing concern nationwide since the fiery Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern derailment outside East Palestine, Ohio, released chemicals that forced evacuations and created lingering health concerns.

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Photo: This photo provided by the Maine Forest Service shows several locomotives and rail cars burning after a freight train derailed, Saturday, April 15, 2023, in Sandwich Academy Grant Township, near Rockwood, Maine. Three workers were treated and released from a hospital, and Canadian Pacific Railway will be leading the cleanup and track repair, according to officials. (Maine Forest Service via AP)

Topics Maine

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