Maine Environmental News

Email link to Delay In First Wind's Initial Public Offering Does Not Come As A Surprise

Letter: Support young climate activists at Portland rally, march Saturday
Portland Press Herald - Friday, May 3, 2019
The most vulnerable to climate disruption are people with the least economic clout and the 27,000-plus species in imminent danger of extinction. I saw the aftermath of the tornado that killed at least 23 people in Alabama in March. These were clearly not wealthy people; many did not even have telephones or internet. Scientists hypothesize this particularly vicious tornado was attributable to a rush of polar air from the West and Northwest hitting unusually moist air from the warming Gulf of Mexico, symptoms of climate change. Maine is not immune from tornadoes. Please support the young climate activists at a City Hall rally at 1 p.m. May 4 for SunDay on Saturday, and a march down to Deering Oaks for speeches and music. ~ Elissa Armstrong, Portland

Letter: Lessons from Jordan’s Delight
Bangor Daily News - Friday, May 3, 2019
I’m sorry to read another “government prevails” story regarding Jordan’s Delight. It has the same tone of so many stories I’ve come to read in the BDN where a non-Mainer comes for the seclusion, beauty and freedoms to exist in a private setting, only to suffer the same smothering, locked out, not-on-our-turf mentality that I’ve begun to realize. ~ Henry Wheelman, Jonesboro

Trump rolls back safety rules meant to prevent another Deepwater Horizon spill
Washington Post - Thursday, May 2, 2019
The Trump administration has weakened offshore drilling safeguards put in effect after a 2010 explosion on the BP Deepwater Horizon oil platform killed 11 workers and triggered the largest ocean spill in U.S. history. Administration officials said the revised Well Control Rule announced Thursday reflects President Trump’s stance on “facilitating energy dominance” by increasing domestic oil and gas production and reducing burdens on the fossil fuel industry.

UMaine Announces Research Effort To Bolster Forest Products Industry
Maine Public - Thursday, May 2, 2019
With an eye toward creating a new market for Maine's forest products industry, the University of Maine Thursday announced a new research collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Habib Dagher, founding executive director of UMaine's Advanced Structures & Composites Center, says the project will use wood fiber in 3D printer manufacturing, by grinding trees into powder. “These materials have properties similar to metals,” says Morin. “We're taking those and putting them in bio-plastics so we can make very strong plastics that we can print almost anything with.”

Hungry bears are prowling, and Maine wildlife officials offer some advice
Portland Press Herald - Thursday, May 2, 2019
State officials are reminding homeowners to remove from their yards bird feeders, trash cans and other items that might attract hungry bears looking for food. The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has received 38 nuisance bear complaints so far this spring, primarily in the Kennebunkport-Arundel and Ellsworth-Blue Hill areas. Annually, the department handles about 500 nuisance bear complaints, with the most coming in from May to July.

UMaine will get world’s largest 3D printer and use wood-based plastic to make boat molds
Bangor Daily News - Thursday, May 2, 2019
Come October, the largest 3D printer in the world will be installed at the University of Maine in Orono. One of its first uses will be to print a boat mold that boat builders can use. The substance behind the 3D printing operation will be a wood-based plastic developed at UMaine. The boat mold is one of the first objectives of a new, bio-based 3D printing program. The hope is that the initiative could make 3D printing more useful in manufacturing while reinvigorating Maine’s forest products industry.

Fiberight in Hampden starts accepting residential garbage as turnover persists at Municipal Review Committee
Morning Sentinel - Thursday, May 2, 2019
The Fiberight waste-processing facility in Hampden accepted its first loads of municipal trash last week, a year after its expected opening and seven days past the latest projection. Despite that, week one has gone smoothly, officials from Fiberight and the Municipal Review Committee said Wednesday. The MRC is a coalition of 115 towns and cities that have contracted to send their municipal garbage to Coastal Resources of Maine, the official name of the Fiberight-owned plant. Meanwhile, the MRC has been tested by turnover in key positions. Longtime Executive Director Greg Lounder stepped down March 1. On April 24, Chip Reeves, president of the MRC’s board of directors, resigned after 10 years with the organization.

Janet Mills’ first veto aims to stop a Republican’s effort to limit ethanol in gasoline
Bangor Daily News - Thursday, May 2, 2019
Gov. Janet Mills issued her first veto on Thursday, rejecting a bill that passed the Maine Legislature without roll-call votes and would ban the sale of gasoline containing more than 10 percent ethanol that likely isn’t being sold in the state right now.

EPA extends time to comment on South Portland air emissions settlement
Portland Press Herald - Thursday, May 2, 2019
City residents and others will have two additional months to comment on a controversial proposed settlement between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Global Partners LP over alleged violations of the federal Clean Air Act at its petroleum storage facility on the Fore River. The deadline to submit comments to the U.S. Department of Justice has been extended from May 1 to July 1. The EPA filed a federal lawsuit against Global on March 25, charging that the company has for several years emitted higher levels of volatile organic compounds than allowed under its emissions license from the Maine DEP.

Opinion: Please support our local commercial fishermen
Seacoast Online - Thursday, May 2, 2019
Commercial fishermen are an endangered species. Fishermen, and lobstermen in particular in Maine, are a crucial part of the local economy. Think of all the businesses that rely on fishermen to survive. There are more regulators in the fishing industry than there are fishermen in the waters. Here are a few suggestions on supporting commercial fishermen:
• Purchase from a year round local fish buyer/market.
• Buy from a fishing family farm stand or locally owned and operated smaller scale fish market.
• Dine at fishing family restaurants.
• Vote in favor of supporting and preserving working waterfronts.
• Do not complain about the smell of bait, the sound of boats, bell buoys or foghorns, or the blocking of your view in commercial fishing harbors.
• If you find buoys or other gear washed ashore, drop it off at the bait sheds at the local wharves.
• Support scholarship programs for children and family members of fishermen.

Rising cost threatens Brunswick recycling program
Forecaster - Thursday, May 2, 2019
Recycling programs across the country are earning less on the sale of materials and paying more to process what residents put in their recycling bins. Brunswick isn’t immune to the national trend. Town Manager John Eldridge’s municipal budget proposal would change the way the town’s recyclables are processed and save $40,000 a year if town councilors decided to stop recycling all materials, including metal, plastic and paper. Councilor Dan Ankeles said he is “unequivocally” against the policy change.
"When you think of the long term, is it really worth breaking our bad recycling habits for,” Ankeles said.

Turkey hunting is a blast, even if you miss your shot The joys of turkey hunting
Bangor Daily News - Thursday, May 2, 2019
Standing on a ridge in Winterport on Monday morning, Brhaun Parks engaged in a few of his favorite activities: Most obviously, he led a group of turkey hunters, using his experience and calling skills in an effort to outwit a wily tom on opening day. But he also shared a few tactics, more than a few tales of turkeys shot (and missed) by he and his pals, and talked about how he much he has enjoyed the sport over the past 24 years.

Gov. Mills Introduces Bill to Mitigate, Prepare for and Adapt to Climate Change
Free Press - Thursday, May 2, 2019
On Tuesday, Governor Janet Mills introduced “An Act to Establish the Maine Climate Change Council to Assist Maine to Mitigate, Prepare for and Adapt to Climate Change.” The council would be charged with recommending policies and strategies to reduce Maine’s greenhouse gas emissions by 45 percent by 2030 and at least 80 percent by 2050, and with insuring that 80 percent of electricity consumed in Maine comes from renewable sources by 2030 and 100 percent by 2050. The first Climate Action Plan would be submitted to the Legislature by December 1, 2020.

Feds Designate Eight Electric Vehicle Road Corridors in Maine
Free Press - Thursday, May 2, 2019
The Federal Highway Administration has designated eight high-speed electric vehicle charging corridors, which extend from Jackman to Bar Harbor, from Bangor to Kittery, and from Portland to the mountains in western Maine. The new corridors will link Maine’s metropolitan areas and major tourist destinations with similar corridors in Quebec and southern New England. “This helps us prepare for a future in which there will be many more electric vehicles on the road,” said Kristina Egan, executive director of the Greater Portland Council of Governments. The federal government in 2016 designated the I-95 corridor from New Hampshire to Augusta as a high-speed electric vehicle corridor.

New Rules Aim To Stop Alarming Loss Of Atlantic Herring
Associated Press - Thursday, May 2, 2019
Interstate fishing managers have approved new protections for an important species of small fish that they hope will help reverse an alarming trend in the fish's population. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is implementing protections to help Atlantic herring, which are a key part of the ocean's food chain. They're also important as lobster bait. The panel says the changes mean the fishery will close in the inshore Gulf of Maine when a lower percentage of the population of herring is spawning, and the closures will last longer. States must implement the changes by Aug. 1.

Organic gardener is accused of spraying plant poison on neighbors’ trees in Belfast dispute
Bangor Daily News - Thursday, May 2, 2019
In Belfast, a fence — and the trees planted around it — was the catalyst that allegedly drove an organic gardener to use a Super Soaker to stealthily spray Roundup on her neighbors’ property in the middle of the night. The gardener in question, Emily Rogals, 53, was indicted earlier this year on a Class C charge of aggravated criminal mischief. There was an estimated $20,000 worth of damage. Because of the unauthorized use of pesticides, the state charged Rogals a $1,500 penalty. As for the criminal case, if found guilty Rogals could face a penalty of up to five years in prison and a fine of as much as $5,000.

Column: Mapping the rocky ocean floors of Maine
Times Record - Thursday, May 2, 2019
Beginning in 2012, the Maine Coastal Program began an effort to map the seafloor off our coast as a part of the Maine Coastal Mapping Initiative. Over the next two years, approximately 125 square miles of seafloor were surveyed and mapped. Funding to support further bathymetric data collection is part of the proposed bond package in the legislature to address climate change (LD 1224). Ocean mapping has always been valuable to navigators and fishermen, but with the growing number of uses in our waters and the changes taking place along the coast, this mapping information is useful to many others like coastal managers and planners as well as those in ocean industry. ~ Susan Olcott

Opinion: Don’t pursue plan for bigger ferry unless Peaks is ready for it
Portland Press Herald - Thursday, May 2, 2019
Annual ridership to Peaks Island has increased by almost 70,000 over the last five years, in large part because of the increase in tourism in Portland and advertising by Casco Bay Lines and others. On a sunny day, upward of 3,000 of these visitors take the ferry to Peaks Island. Casco Bay Lines secured grant monies to purchase a new ferry. There is much talk about increasing passenger capacity by 200. We have safety, health and infrastructure issues on the island, and without addressing the current situation, an increase to the ferry passenger capacity will only make things worse. Overtourism causes short- and long-term problems. We all want to preserve the island’s ecosystem, for the health of its residents, and to ensure that it is a welcoming safe place for visitors. ~ Vicki Flanagan, Peaks Island

Letter: Pipeline would be better route for CMP corridor
Portland Press Herald - Thursday, May 2, 2019
Every reason Gov. Mills offers for supporting the Central Maine Power corridor is better met with a bill in the Legislature – L.D. 1436 – which aims to openly recruit the interest of Portland Pipe Line in repurposing the unused crude oil pipeline as an underground conduit for high-voltage direct current. This option (presented at my request by Rep. Chris Kessler) avoids aerial lines, which are the nexus of conflict. The timing here is almost providential. This win-win converts this war-era fossil fuel infrastructure, saves the carbon-cleansing forest and immediately writes off 220 tons of permitted volatile organic compound emissions per year. Please, Gov. Mills, support L.D. 1436. ~ Eben Rose, South Portland

EXCLUSIVE: Cutko reportedly to head Maine Parks & Lands
Maine Environmental News - Wednesday, May 1, 2019
Informed sources from the Augusta rumor mill tell Maine Enviro News that Andy Cutko will be appointed director of the Maine Bureau of Parks & Lands. Cutko has served as Director of Scince for the Nature Conservancy in Maine for the past two years. Before that he was an ecologist in the Maine Department of Conservation and at the organization Natureserve. News of Cutko’s appointment has not been confirmed. He would replace Tom Desjardin, who is a carry over from the LePage Administration. Over 700,000 acres are managed by the Bureau of Parks and Lands. Conservation easements and leases bring the total land area managed to over 2 million acres.

Maine Climate Council legislation aims for 100% renewables by 2050
Other - Wednesday, May 1, 2019
Windpower Engineering & Development - Maine Governor Janet Mills has introduced bipartisan legislation to create the Maine Climate Council. The Climate Council will develop the action plan and timetable to meet the state’s greenhouse gas reduction goals, promote jobs, and economic benefits for Maine people in the transition to a lower carbon economy — and to support the climate resiliency of Maine’s communities.

Maine becomes first state to ban Styrofoam food containers, effective 2021
USA Today - Wednesday, May 1, 2019
Maine has become the first state to ban food containers made of polystyrene, commonly known as Styrofoam. Democratic Gov. Janet Mills signed a bill Tuesday that will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2021, prohibiting businesses from selling or distributing disposable food service containers made of polystyrene. Plastic foam food containers are among the top 10 most commonly littered items in the U.S. and cannot be recycled in Maine.

What’s at stake if milfoil spreads in central Maine? Mosquito breeding, declining property values
Kennebec Journal - Wednesday, May 1, 2019
No boats are allowed in parts of Annabessacook Lake in Monmouth and Great Pond — including Great Meadow Stream — in Rome, at least for the time being. The Maine departments of Environmental Protection and Inland Fisheries and Wildlife have issued a temporary ban on watercrafts in portions of those bodies of water to suppress the growth of variable-leaf milfoil.

Maine DMR To Hold Public Hearing On Proposed Moratorium On Leases For Large Aquaculture Sites
Maine Public - Wednesday, May 1, 2019
Maine's Department of Marine Resources will hold a public hearing this month on a proposed moratorium on new leases for aquaculture sites of more than 10 acres. The hearing is in response to a petition from lobster harvesters and coastal land owners who want the Department to strengthen its consideration of alternative sites for proposed aquaculture when they may interfere with other uses. The petitioners, many of them from the Brunswick area, are also calling for any new rules to be retroactive, so they would apply to a controversial oyster farm proposed for Brunswick's Maquoit Bay.

Opinion: Smith wrong on CMP project
Kennebec Journal - Wednesday, May 1, 2019
Columnist George Smith describes the New England Clean Energy Connect power line as a disaster that no one who loves Maine should support. Everyone who loves Maine should support it because of the risks coming from climate change. The real disaster to our northern forests includes the death of the boreal forest of spruce and fir, the loss of the alpine zone, and serious damage from the northern migration of damaging insects like the southern pine beetle. Only 4 percent of New England’s power is produced by wind and solar, and this project could provide twice that amount. It’s time to accept the sacrifices needed to avoid a climate disaster. ~ Tony Marple, Whitefield

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