In their Sept. 10 guest editorial, “Another View: LePage, DEP raising valid issues about Brunswick Amtrak facility,” Bob Casey and Chris Morrison wrote that the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority “failed to notify nearby residents.”

The gentlemen themselves failed to mention that NNEPRA notified neighbors based on the definition of abutters provided by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection staff. It is hard to square that fact with Mr. Casey’s and Mr. Morrison’s assertion that by doing so, NNEPRA hoped to escape DEP scrutiny.

It puzzles me that DEP Commissioner Patricia Aho, whose agency granted a stormwater permit to NNEPRA’s contractor, Consigli, in November 2013, now seems determined to avoid, or at least delay, ruling on NNEPRA’s new application. I can only surmise that we have entered the electoral “silly” season.

For whatever reason, Gov. LePage and his political appointee, Ms. Aho, have determined that it is now in their best interest to hinder the construction of a train shed in Brunswick that would allow Downeaster trains to be stored indoors with diesel engines shut down, thereby eliminating the airborne pollution, noise and vibration that currently plague Brunswick residents.

In March, the Amtrak Downeaster received the Governor’s Award for Tourism Excellence. The construction of the train shed at the terminus of the Downeaster line would enable NNEPRA to offer an additional round trip every day: a convenient midday departure to Boston and night-time return from Boston.

Yet the governor’s administration is now impeding Downeaster expansion. Quite a reversal in the space of six months.

Alison Harris

Brunswick

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