Now that Freeport is enjoying some peace and quiet as per their newly instituted “quiet zones” with regards to the Amtrak trains, I feel that there is absolutely no excuse why we, the taxpayers who live in west Brunswick, can’t have our peace and quiet back again, also.

When the trains come into town whistling and wailing at the insane times of 6:38 a.m., 7:05 a.m. and all other hours of the day, seven days a week without respite, that constitutes egregious and inhumane treatment of those who live around here.

When one is ill and has to go to the doctor, one is almost always told to go home and rest. Are you kidding me? If one lives in one of the residential neighborhoods near the tracks in west Brunswick, being able to rest is a thing of the past.

In my opinion, the trains and all the ear-splitting noise and the money they generate seem to be far more important than the health and welfare of those of us who live here. Those folks who have cancer and are perhaps having chemotherapy or stem cell treatments need to rest. And what about those with heart conditions or autoimmune diseases? The retired and elderly folks who live near the railroad tracks and who have worked hard all their lives to rest on their own time schedule? What about our veterans who have returned from war zones? Isn’t it an established fact that they desperately need peace and quiet so they can rest and recover from brain injuries or PTSD? And what about the young Brunswick residents, those precious infants and young children with tender ears who are more susceptible to hearing damage than adults? Does the town of Brunswick or the railroad care about any of these people?

Because I was interested in what the Federal Railroad Administration had to say about railroad noise and quiet zones, I looked up “The Train Horn Rule and Quiet Zones” on their website. I discovered they’re highly cognizant of the harmful effects of noise on people. As a matter of fact, they include most of the harmful effects of noise on their website.

If one clicks on “General Health Effects of Transportation Noise,” one will see “effects of noise on performance,” “hearing impairment/loss,” “sleep disturbance,” “mscular effects of noise,” “cardiovascular effects of noise” and “mental health effects of noise.”

Yes, there’s plenty of information as it pertains to the detrimental effects of noise straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak. So why, if the Federal Railroad Administration has all this information, didn’t they do something to help protect those of us who live nearby?

Surprisingly enough, they did. Here is what they have to say in their disclosure as pertains to establishing quiet zones:

“The final rule also provides an opportunity for localities nationwide to mitigate the effects of train horn noise by establishing new Quiet Zones. In a Quiet Zone, railroads have been directed to cease the routine sounding of their horns when approaching public-highway rail grade crossings. Train horns may still be used in emergency situations or to comply with other federal regulations or railroad operating rules. Localities desiring to establish a Quiet Zone are first required to mitigate the increased risk caused by the absence of a horn.”

Note that there is no mention of quiet zones being dependent on how many trains travel through a town at a given time. All that is required for towns to establish quiet zones is for them to find a way to mitigate the noise themselves.

There are other ways to mitigate train horn noise if Quiet Zones just won’t work, such as using wayside horns, for example, which can be installed at any intersection where trains cross over streets and can help improve safety for motorists and pedestrians alike while dramatically reducing noise pollution created by train horns.

Wayside horns toot only when it’s necessary while the trains who enter and exit Brunswick toot their horn every single time they cross an intersection — even when it’s not necessary, which seems to me to be a recipe for disaster as to long-term health problems for those folks who live near the tracks. They’ve been installed all across the United States and Europe because it’s a well-documented scientific fact that noise pollution is detrimental to human health.

As a taxpayer living in Brunswick, I look to my town to protect my family, my friends, my neighbors and me.

When I pay my taxes, I expect that the town will send a police officer or an EMT if I am involved in an auto accident. I would also expect them to send an officer to my aid if I am threatened in any way and I expect that the town will send a fire truck should there be a fire at my home.

When it snows, I expect that the town will send out plows and sand trucks to keep the roads safe.

And, as a taxpayer living in Brunswick, I feel it’s time for the town to protect those of us who live near the railroad tracks by coming up with a plan to mitigate the dangerous and harmful effects of all the over-the top impulse noise generated by the trains as they enter and exit Brunswick, morning, noon and night, seven days a week.

If Freeport can do it, so can Brunswick.

LOIS GORDON CRAWFORD is a resident of Brunswick.