I was horrified to read about the derailment and subsequent explosion of a train carrying crude oil in Quebec on July 6. This Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railways train was headed for Maine.

I was one of six people arrested on June 27 for setting up a blockade on the train tracks in the heart of Fairfield, within close walking distance of two different schools and just blocks from another.

Transporting fuel by rail is dangerous. Our blockade was meant to stop Pan Am Railways and from running crude oil from the Bakken oil fields of North Dakota through Maine to the Irving refinery in New Brunswick.

The destruction caused to surrounding homes by the engulfment of flames after this enormous explosion in Quebec is immeasurable — just imagine if it had happened in Fairfield on a school day.

What would we say to the grieving families of the children who could possibly be burned to death in such a situation?

This subject has been quiet for far too long in this state and it is high time people started taking notice and doing something about it.

I urge all concerned citizens to contact their legislators to demand that Maine stop allowing transport of fossil fuel through our state by train. It’s too dangerous a business, and our land and people are too valuable to put at risk any longer.

Sarah Linneken

Benton