Maine regulators said the railway cleaning up the site of a train derailment near Rockwood violated environmental law by causing soil and rocks to slide into nearby waterways during the cleanup.
The Maine Forest Service and Land Use Planning Commission, which is an administrator in the Unorganized Territory, issued the joint notice of violation to the railway on Thursday with help from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, which is overseeing the cleanup of the crash that happened two weeks ago.
Staff from the organizations visited the derailment site earlier this week and observed that access roads had considerable sedimentation. DEP Commissioner Melanie Loyzim also issued a letter instructing CPKC to start erosion control measures immediately in areas identified by the two regulators.
“A significant amount of sediment was released into Maine’s waters in violation of the Pollution Control Law because of the use of heavy construction equipment to access the site for remediation,” the DEP said in a release Friday. “Culverts were crushed and dirt has been shifted in and around a number of streams.”
The DEP also recommended that CPKC avoid using heavy equipment on forest management roads except for one until the heavy rain expected early next week ends and the roads can be stabilized.