VAN BUREN – Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe called on the federal government to build a new port of entry along the Canadian border to replace an aging facility that was knocked out of commission by floodwaters.

The Van Buren border crossing was damaged by flooding in May, and Customs and Border Protection agents now are using a temporary facility.

In their letter, the senators urged the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection and General Services Administration to expedite construction of a permanent facility rather than fix the old one, and to complete a winterization of the temporary facility.

“CBP officers are now working in a temporary facility, and we understand that it provides a more secure working environment than the existing structure there even if it were repaired,” the senators wrote in their letter late last week.

The old structure was built on a landfill in 1964, and problems include asbestos tiles that were damaged during the flooding, they said.

Efforts are under way to reconstruct or build two other border crossings.

Workers broke ground in March on a new border crossing at Jackman to replace the old one. The $26 million project is scheduled for completion in 2010.

A month later, ground was broken on a new border crossing station in Calais that will help relieve traffic congestion at two existing border crossings between Calais and St. Stephen, New Brunswick. The $48 million station is scheduled to be completed by late 2009.