Politicians call for state, federal rail safety review
State and federal political leaders are calling for safety reviews of Maine’s rail infrastructure that transports oil in the wake of a crash that officials estimate killed around 50 people.
The Portland Press Herald reported that U.S. Reps. Mike Michaud and Chellie Pingree are pushing for federal review of the state’s rail infrastructure. The Associated Press reported Gov. Paul LePage issued an executive order earlier this week calling for the state’s Department of Transportation to review rail line safety.
The call for greater review also comes as oil shipments through the state have increased dramatically since 2011, according to the Press Herald, and the tariff-supported fund for oil spill cleanups has dwindled because of lower fees paid by shipment companies and lawmakers’ decisions to use those funds for other purposes.
Officials believe the crash along the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway line in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec resulted from an engineer’s failure to apply some of the train’s hand brakes before leaving the train unattended overnight, according to The Globe and Mail.
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