Maine Environmental News

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Maine Senate Backs Climate Impact Study For CMP Transmission Project
Maine Public - Thursday, May 9, 2019
The Maine Senate overwhelmingly approved a measure Thursday that would require a new analysis of the purported greenhouse gas reductions associated with Central Maine Power's proposal to bring hydro-electricity from Canada to New England. The project has stirred wide opposition. Senator Brownie Carson says, “Many want to know whether the claims about the project being good for the climate are real." CMP has argued that the project would be an environmental boon. But Canada's Hydro-Quebec has largely been a no-show in state regulatory proceedings, and opponents say there is no verifiable evidence that global greenhouse gas emissions would actually be reduced.

Two cases of rabies reported in Chelsea
Kennebec Journal - Thursday, May 9, 2019
The town of Chelsea’s Facebook page issued a warning Thursday morning, citing two confirmed cases of rabies near Nelson Road and Windsor Road. “The (Maine Center for Disease Control) has requested that residents of Chelsea be notified of confirmed cases of rabies in a raccoon in the area of the Nelson Road and a fox in the area of the Windsor Road,” the post reads. Rabies cases have been reported in other central Maine towns recently. The Times Record reported that a Bowdoinham a woman and her dogs were attacked by a rabid gray fox Tuesday night on Pond Road.

Town celebrates 300th anniversary of Town Commons, notes early impact on Brunswick development
Times Record - Thursday, May 9, 2019
The Brunswick Town Commons, a “little corner” of town with a big impact on Brunswick’s history, is celebrating its 300th anniversary this year, marked by seven full weeks of activities and events. The Commons, often confused with the Brunswick town mall, according to Fred Koerber, a member of the town commons committee, is a 71-acre chunk of what was once 1,000 acres given to the town in 1719 by the Pejepscot Company “to ly in general commonage.” One of the earliest conserved open spaces in Maine, the land was also used to help draw both Bowdoin College and the United States Navy to town. There is an official commemoration ceremony May 19, followed by the formal opening of a special exhibit at the Pejepscot Historical Society.

Mills signs bills aimed at giving electricity customers more information
Bangor Daily News - Thursday, May 9, 2019
Gov. Janet Mills signed 21 bills into law Thursday, including two that intend to improve customer billing practices and public oversight of transmission and distribution utilities such as Central Maine Power and Emera Maine.

New laws sparked by CMP billing problems will make electric companies disclose more to customers
Portland Press Herald - Thursday, May 9, 2019
The state is requiring electric utilities to provide more information to customers under legislation that was prompted by months of problematic bills issued by Central Maine Power Co. Gov. Janet Mills signed the bills Thursday. They require investor-owned utilities in the state to provide to customers a 10-year history of transmission and service rates annually, and also to clearly display consumer assistance lines for customers on their billing statements. A 10-year history of rates also would be posted on the website of the Maine Public Utilities Commission. The laws also allow the PUC to require that utilities issue corrections to customers if they provide misleading, deceptive or inaccurate information.

Maine Senate bucks Mills by backing climate impact study of CMP corridor
Bangor Daily News - Thursday, May 9, 2019
A bill that would complicate state permitting of a $1 billion Central Maine Power hydropower transmission corridor through western Maine handily won support from the Senate on Thursday. The bill from Sen. Brownie Carson, D-Harpswell, would mandate an independent net carbon emissions impact study of the proposed 145-mile transmission line to send Hydro-Quebec power from Canada to Massachusetts. It earned more than two-thirds majority from senators, who endorsed it 30-4. Two Democrats — Sens. Bill Diamond of Windham and Senate Majority Leader Nate Libby of Lewiston — joined Republican Sens. James Hamper of Oxford and Kim Rosen of Bucksport in voting against it. It now moves to the House for a vote.

Rising cost of recycling forces Mainers to decide between paying more and going back to landfills
Bangor Daily News - Thursday, May 9, 2019
Local cities and towns find themselves at a crossroads with recycling. Some say the costs are getting so high, it may not even be worth recycling at all. “It’s a shock to the system when it goes from break even, to $40 a ton, to $140 dollars a ton,” Brunswick Town Manager John Eldridge said. Brunswick handles their recycling locally, but has had to increase their budget by almost $150,000 to pay for it.

As water levels drop, brook fishing will pick up
Bangor Daily News - Thursday, May 9, 2019
Aroostook County will be the last part of Maine to enjoy peak brook-fishing season, but northern Maine has plenty of spots to choose from. Frank Frost, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife’s regional fisheries biologist for Region G out of Ashland, offered a few tips for anglers. Timing, of course, is a big key.

Beginning birders can get their avian adventures started at these locations around Greater Bangor
Bangor Metro - Thursday, May 9, 2019
Where should you hike this month? Aislinn Sarnacki can help:
• Essex Woods in Bangor
• Fields Pond Audubon Center in Holden
• Orono Bog Conservation Area

Deep State: The ecosystem defends itself — The Sierra Club’s Climate Conference
Forecaster - Thursday, May 9, 2019
Three people stifled sobs when they spoke. I was surprised how emotional things were. But I shouldn’t have been. In Maine, May is the cruelest month. Here we were on this cool-warm, cloudy-sunny spring day, with blossoms on the trees starting to appear, contemplating the end of the world as we know it. That indeed was the subject of the fourth Climate Action Conference of the Maine chapter of the Sierra Club on May 4 at the University of Maine’s Hutchinson Center in Belfast. About 150 people wanted to know what they could do about the crisis we’re already in.

Salmon Farm Opponents Claim the Intertidal Zone
Forecaster - Thursday, May 9, 2019
Nordic Aquafarms wants to build a $500 million land-based salmon farm in Belfast. On May 1, opponents dropped a trove of land records and testimonials that suggest the company doesn’t have the required land rights for the upland and intertidal zone. On May 2, the Bureau of Parks and Lands reversed its earlier finding that Nordic’s application had sufficient evidence of title, right and interest along the pipe route. BPL gave the company until May 16 to submit “any information you have regarding this issue, such as title searches, title opinions or surveys of the property that would help to establish the Eckrotes’ interest in the intertidal land.”

Committee to Hear Mills’ Climate Change Council Bill
Forecaster - Thursday, May 9, 2019
The Environment and Natural Resources Committee will hold a public hearing May 17 on Gov. Janet Mills’ ambitious climate action proposal. LD 1679, sponsored by Sen. David Woodsome (R-York County), would establish the Maine Climate Change Council to mitigate, prepare for and adapt to climate change. It would require the state to procure 80 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030 and 100 percent by 2050. The measure has been praised by environmental groups.

These poems capture Maine from the coast to the Allagash
George Smith BDN Outdoor News Blog - Thursday, May 9, 2019
Peter Kilgore obviously loved Maine, from our coastal islands to the Allagash River in the north woods. Quarry, The Collected Poems of Peter Kilgore, really capture his Maine – and my Maine too.

Offshore Lobster Industry in Maine Threatening Right Whales
Public News Service - Thursday, May 9, 2019
While the U.S. lobster industry is booming in Maine, some of its fishing methods are hurting a special group – the North Atlantic right whales. The whales number slightly more than 400 and are facing extinction. Recently, NOAA's Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team made recommendations about how the New England lobster industry can modify practices to save the whales. Zack Klyver with Bar Harbor Whale Watch, says the majority of the sightings were about 20 miles off the coast. "That's where the greatest co-occurrence of risk is for whales and fishing gear, and that is where there really is need for conservation," Klyver states. The offshore lobster industry has grown. This has been a deadly mix for the right whales.

Opinion: Protect Maine’s coast from offshore drilling
Seacoast Online - Thursday, May 9, 2019
Wells’ coastline is not only a powerful piece of our local economy; it is also a critical part of our region’s ecosystem. Wells is home to the second largest saltmarsh in the state. This fragile ecological area is home to rare plant and animal species, a critical breeding ground for piping plovers and a wintering habitat for endangered harlequin ducks. This central aspect of our community’s identity could be placed at risk if offshore oil drilling was ever allowed of our precious coastline. Any oil spill would contaminate Maine’s fisheries, devastate our tourism economy, and completely transform the beach and marshes that we have loved for generations. The Legislature’s Environment and Natural Resources Committee has a bill to prohibit offshore oil and natural gas drilling and exploration. I support this legislation. ~ Rep. Dan Hobbs, D-Wells

DuPont buys Rockland waterfront property, derailing plans for its redevelopment
Bangor Daily News - Thursday, May 9, 2019
Chemical manufacturing giant DuPont has purchased a waterfront property that abuts its Rockland seaweed processing plant, thwarting recently proposed plans for the property’s redevelopment. A resident who was planning to buy the Bicknell property to create a community-oriented space that would feature shops, restaurants and potentially residential units. DuPont opposes allowing residential units in the area. The neighborhood is home to the city’s wastewater treatment plant, DuPont’s seaweed processing plant, the municipal fish pier and Rockland’s U.S. Coast Guard base.

Politics Trumps Science at the EPA
Sierra Club - Thursday, May 9, 2019
Once again, Trump administration cronies are denying peer-reviewed science. As chair of the EPA’s Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, Tony Cox — a former consultant for the American Petroleum Institute, the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association, the Mining Industry, and a tobacco company — is questioning if fine particulate matter air pollution, also known as soot, actually causes premature death and other health issues. However, the science is clear that this type of pollution is very dangerous.

3-D printer hailed for potential to create wood-based products
Portland Press Herald - Thursday, May 9, 2019
A large 3-D printer to be unboxed at the University of Maine this summer could open up innovative, new uses for wood. The printer will use a roughly 50-50 mix of plastic resins and wood cellulose to create three-dimensional objects, such as boat hulls or custom furniture. An initial use, however, is likely to be the molds used in boat-building, said university officials who note other uses are likely to come to the fore, creating additional products and demand for wood. Even though it’s unclear how much demand for wood products will increase if the technology takes hold, any amount is good news for the state’s forest products industry, said Rosaire Pelletier, the senior forest products adviser to the last three Maine governors.

Editorial: Hubris on display when Pompeo talks about climate
Portland Press Herald - Thursday, May 9, 2019
Burning coal and oil is driving a faster increase in temperature than at anytime in human history. It’s not only a threat to our long-range existence, it’s already causing environmental disasters right now. These events are projected to hit catastrophic levels over the next two decades unless the developed world can turn away from a carbon based economy. Meanwhile the government Secretary of State Mike Pompeo represents won’t even admit there’s a problem, wasting precious time. The secretary says there will be some awesome shipping lanes where a polar ice cap used to be, giving a big boost to global trade. And not just that – retreating arctic ice will make it possible to extract more oil and gas from parts of the world that have been inaccessible. Score a win for Pompeo and a loss for the planet.

Opinion: Rolling toward renewal along the Presumpscot River
Portland Press Herald - Thursday, May 9, 2019
DEP and FERC orders require removal and fish passage for several Presumpscot River dams to be complete and operational for the May 2021 upstream fish runs from the ocean. A full 5 miles – one-fifth of the river’s habitat – will be reopened for spawning anadromous fish; habitat that is capable of producing hundreds of thousands of alewife and blueback herring, tens of thousands of American shad, and even a small population of endangered Atlantic salmon. Eagles, osprey, heron and other wildlife will return along with the fish. Also, these migrating fish will supply forge food and nutrients to a help support the fishery of the Casco Bay and beyond. These are the next steps in the restoration of the beauty, wonder and vibrancy of this river. ~ Michael Shaughnessy, Westbrook, Friends of the Presumpscot River

Letter: Emissions sticker revenue should be used for public transit
Portland Press Herald - Thursday, May 9, 2019
The federal grant that established the Breez is expiring resulting in those served communities to increase their subsidy. All public transit in Cumberland County should be free, enhanced, and not subsidized by property tax assessments. Since 1995, only Cumberland County has had an E (emissions) sticker requirement as part of the state’s annual auto safety inspection program. Unlike other states that have petitioned the EPA and eliminated the E sticker program, Maine has not because MDOT receives $18 million per year from the feds for continuing the program. Logically, this money should be dedicated solely for mass transit in Cumberland County. Call your state representatives. ~ Carl Wilcox, New Gloucester

Letter: Obstructing planetary justice
Bangor Daily News - Thursday, May 9, 2019
President Donald Trump has supported the falsehood that climate change doesn’t threaten the planet and that people have little to do with it. Despite the efforts of communities throughout Maine organizing to lessen our carbon footprints, our commander in chief is working against what community sustainability groups — such as MDI’s A Climate to Thrive and Maine Sierra Club’s climate action teams — are engaged in doing: striving to act locally and think globally. The president and his administration essentially admit they’re exploiting the planet for its worth, and celebrate the climate change he calls a hoax. The president is obstructing planetary justice. ~ Beverly Roxby, Belfast

Letter: Mainers can’t handle recycling
Sun Journal - Thursday, May 9, 2019
As someone who works at a bottle redemption store, I believe Maine is nowhere near ready for improving recycling. The majority of customers who come to my store are rude and careless about the condition of the containers they are returning, which often contain trash, needles and, sometimes, bugs that follow me home. The amount the bottle deposit brings after a month, or even year’s worth, of bottle hoarding is like a bank account to some. So, a ban on plastic bags is in order, due to the fact people are no longer responsible enough to take care of their trash. Yeah, right. ~ Arthur Pleau, Auburn

Conservation Groups Call For Stronger Environmental Concessions In CMP's Transmission Project
Maine Public - Wednesday, May 8, 2019
Opponents of Central Maine Power’s proposal to cut a new transmission corridor through western Maine are bearing down on efforts to get the company to come up with alternatives to the existing plan. CMP says it has made some adjustments aimed at appeasing concerns raised by conservation groups and others, including a recent pledge to not use herbicides in a long section of the corridor. Some conservation groups are unimpressed. “This is really not a measure that is going to reduce the severe environmental impact of this project,” says Nick Bennett, senior scientist at the Natural Resources Council of Maine.

CMP says it won’t use herbicides in proposed new power line corridor
Morning Sentinel - Wednesday, May 8, 2019
Central Maine Power officials announced on Wednesday a decision not to use herbicides or pesticides in 53 miles of new transmission line corridor proposed through Franklin and Somerset counties as part of the New England Clean Energy Connect project. Some opponents said Wednesday it’s too early to celebrate the pledge from CMP without a written commitment. And even with the decision to eliminate herbicides in the new corridor, it’s not enough to justify the project’s construction, they said. “This is a bit of a distraction from the larger picture, which is that this project is really bad,” said Sue Ely, a clean-energy staff attorney at the Natural Resources Council of Maine.

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