West Paris cleanup forces second evacuation

WEST PARIS — West Paris residents spent a second night away from home as workers began removing liquid propane from the site of an earlier train derailment.

The nine railroad cars derailed Monday night on tracks operated by the Saint Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad.

None of the propane on board the train leaked into the Little Androscoggin River, where the accident occurred, but residents were evacuated Monday as a precaution.

They were allowed to return to their homes Tuesday morning, but officials asked them to leave again Tuesday night until the highly flammable and explosive gas was safely removed.

Officials said the situation could have been much worse.

The train was carrying several other chemicals that could have ignited in a fire or mixed into an unpredictable combination.

The threat is hardly unusual, however. Trains routinely carry propane and other potentially dangerous chemicals all over the state.

“This is a thoroughfare for the paper industry, ” said Gary Latno, the fire chief in West Paris.

The National Transportation Safety Board was investigating what caused Monday’s accident.

Matthew Jacobson, a vice president at the railroad, said the entire train had been inspected and appeared to be in good condition before it left Island Pond, Vt., Monday for stops in Auburn and Portland. At the accident site Tuesday, however, a wheel was missing a section of a metal flange that would keep the car on the track.

The boxcar is owned by Canadian National railroad.

Jacobson praised the two engineers on the train for how they handled the situation. He declined to identify the engineers, but said both are 25-year veterans of the railroad.