RUMFORD – Raymond Baker worries about the safety of his neighbors in Rumford’s Smithville section, especially the children.
Baker claims that railroad tracks leading into the MeadWestvaco paper mill in the Smithville section beside Route 108 are unsafe and could cause derailments.
“I’m not an expert, but this doesn’t look too safe,” he said, pointing out cracked, crumbling, frayed, ripped and pancaked iron sections of rails Thursday afternoon just south of the mill.
“My biggest concern is the families. There are a lot of children that live here. It would be a shame if a car were to tip over that was loaded with 20,000 to 30,000 gallons of chemicals. A lot of it would go into the river,” he said.
MeadWestvaco spokesman Tony Lyons said Thursday afternoon that Guilford Transportation Industries in Billerica, Mass., owns the railroad, not the paper mill.
“We’re not responsible for maintenance on the line,” Lyons said of the mill.
A phone call and e-mail to David Bougie, Safety Department director for Guilford Transportation Industries’ Guilford Rail System, were not immediately returned Thursday.
Lyons said the mill ships paper and pulp freight out on the railroad line that runs from Rumford to Portland. Slow-moving freight trains also bring commodities like papermaking chemicals and coatings to the mill, he added.
Baker, who moved to Rumford from New Hampshire a year and a half ago, said that he first spotted the damage last year while out walking his dog along the tracks and the river between Rumford and Peru.
“I’m not trying to create a headache for anybody; I just think it’s a safety issue. It would be easier to come down here and fix the rails than it would be to clean up a derailment mess,” Baker said.
“Whether it’s the mill or the railroad company, somebody ought to fix this,” he added.
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