BRUNSWICK

Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority is one procedural step closer to a proposed maintenance and layover facility for its Amtrak Downeaster passenger trains.

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection issued a storm water runoff permit Nov. 13 for the project, which is intended to be built along trackside land between Church Road and Stanwood Street. The Federal Railroad Administration, the agency with sole jurisdiction over the site and building plan, has yet to issue its approval for the plan.

NNEPRA, the Portland agency which manages the Downeaster’s daily service between Maine and Massaschusetts, wants to build the layover facility in Brunswick because it would eliminate having to ferry trains and cars back and forth to Portland for maintenance, refueling and other work. In addition to saving money and time, the layover facility also would allow the trains to be put indoors and kept in a climate controlled environment and powered down to “standby” levels, according to Patricia Quinn, NNEPRA’s executive director.

Currently, the Brunswickto Boston trains have to idle their engines during cold weather to maintain warmth and power necessary to keep fuel and other systems ready for use. Nearby residents have complained that the fumes and vibration from the idling engines fouls their air and shakes their homes.

They also oppose the layover facility’s construction because they say it is too large and obtrusive and will undermine property values.

The DEP permit authorizes NNEPRA to construct a water retention and management system that will remove pollutants and mitigate overflow into the surrounding environment due to excessive rainfall or surface flooding. As part of the DEP’s approval, the storm water management plan also met standards and practices established by the Cumberland County Soil and Water Control District.

Without FRA approval, however, the state permit is moot.

Because of its location and intended use as a railroad maintenance facility, the FRA is the sole arbiter. A public comment and scrutiny period regarding the 55,000-square-foot, $12 million facility concluded Oct. 13, exactly a month prior to the DEP’s permit approval.

Although the FRA already has endorsed an environmental assessment prepared by NNEPRA and its contracted engineering firms, residents of several neighborhoods in the vicinity of the proposed building have petitioned the federal agency to conduct an environmental impact study, which is a far more stringent review and could postpone construction for up to 18 months.

They say the building is too large for its proposed location and that effects of the trains’ presence — noise, vibration and exhaust fumes — is ruining their quality of life.

Process delayed

But the process was delayed by a 16-day shutown of the federal government that began Oct. 1 and overlapped the end of the comment period. Because of the shutdown, the FRA’s consideration — and judgment — of the project was delayed.

Neither is the federal agency close to issuing a decision.

According to FRA spokesman Rob Kulat, the agency “currently is reviewing and preparing responses to the public comments. As such, we do not have a completion date at this point.”

WHY BRUNSWICK? NNEPRA, the Portland agency which manages the Downeaster’s daily service between Maine and Massaschusetts, wants to build the layover facility in Brunswick because it would eliminate having to ferry trains and cars back and forth to Portland for maintenance, refueling and other work.