Columbiana port authority has ultimate responsibility

It has been two months since three Central Columbiana & amp; Pennsylvania railway cars derailed in Elkrun Township, scattering debris near a railroad crossing at Lusk Lock, Low and Bell roads. But as a picture in Sunday's Vindicator showed, clean-up of the site has yet to take place.
Jim and Lisa Cibula, who own a horse farm near the crossing, are worried and upset. Their worry stems from the fact that the contents of one of the cars spilled down an embankment into their pasture. A fence was knocked down.
There is the ever present danger of their horses getting into the debris or tangled in the downed fence. Mrs. Cibula says she and her husband cannot repair the fence themselves without handling the construction debris.
The Cibulas are upset because their pleas for relief have fallen on deaf ears.
They have called Columbiana County and state officials and recently contacted state Rep. Charles Blasdel of East Liverpool, R-1st, and U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland of Lisbon, D-6th.
This family should not have to put up with such bureaucratic inaction.
From where we sit, it is ultimately the responsibility of the Columbiana County Port Authority to get the debris picked up. The longer it remains on the ground, the greater the possibility of a health hazard.
Lease agreement
Why the port authority? Because it owns the 36-mile rail line in Columbiana and Mahoning counties and has a lease agreement with Central Columbiana & amp; Pennsylvania of Arkansas. The railroad imports construction and demolition debris from the East Coast to a landfill in Negley.
Little Bull Creek, which empties into Beaver Creek, flows through the pasture near the rail line. Drywall dust and other material from the construction debris could be getting into the creek.
There is another reason we place the responsibility for cleaning up this mess at the door of the port authority: It is a quasi-public entity that received a half-million-dollar grant from the Ohio Rail Development Commission to reopen the former Youngstown & amp; Southern Railroad line.
Jim and Lisa Cibula are taxpayers and, therefore, have a right to expect their safety and healthy concerns to be addressed in an urgent fashion.
Two months and counting are not the definition of urgent. The Cibulas should not have to contend with an overturned rail car, train wheels and other debris and the possibility of their horses being seriously injured if they ventured into the section of the pasture that was damaged.
Such a derailment was foretold by opponents of port authority's plan to reactivate the long-unused Y & amp;S line.
Government officials in Mahoning County, including the county commissioners and the Boardman Township trustees, were critical of the Ohio Rail Development Commission for not fully exploring the plan by the Penn-Ohio Recycling Co. to import construction and demolition debris from the East Coast. Their concern stemmed from the fact that the rail line crosses major thoroughfares in Youngstown and Boardman, including U.S. Route 224.
There is now a mess that must be cleaned up as soon as possible. Finger-pointing is not an acceptable response.