DEP chief scrutinizes Downeaster train depot
The proposed Amtrak Downeaster layover facility in Brunswick was dealt another blow after the state’s top environmental official demanded more answers from the project’s leader.
The Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority also was denied a new stormwater permit from the state Department of Environmental Protection this week because not enough information was provided for the proposed facility.
The Bangor Daily News reported that Patricia Aho, DEP’s commissioner, sent a six-page letter to NNEPRA, asking the quasi-municipal organization to answer nearly two dozen questions regarding various environmental aspects of the project.
Patricia Quinn, NNEPRA’s executive director, told the newspaper that her agency is willing to fully work with the DEP, and that much of the sought-after information is already available. She added that NNEPRA is in the process of addressing issues with the permit application.
NNEPRA’s proposal to locate a 60,000-square, $12 million layover facility near a residential neighborhood in Brunswick has been under scrutiny since the location was announced and later finalized in 2011, even after the Federal Railroad Administration approved the proposal in June, saying it would not significantly impact its surrounding environment.
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