MAINE PUBLIC • February 28, 2023
In East Palestine. Ohio, residents are continuing to call for more government assistance as they deal with the impacts of a train derailment and explosion that emitted a cloud of toxic chemicals. Recent news coverage of the accident has also highlighted the lack of transparency and regulation in the railroad industry, more broadly. Little information is available to the general public on what hazardous materials are being transported by freight trains in Maine. Chop Hardenbergh, former editor of the industry newsletter Atlantic Northeast Rails and Ports, says there are two reasons for this: Railroads are federally regulated and they will use that to overcome or to attempt to overcome any state regulation. And railroads don't want to let other railroads know what is in their trains, because that means that other railroads can try to steal that traffic away.