Wild and Scenic Protections Threatened The people of Maine realized they needed a State policy to save their own wilderness areas. They petitioned their elected representatives to protect the last great wild river in the eastern United States, and the Maine legislature responded by creating the Allagash Wilderness Waterway, so that the people could own Read More
Clean Water
Clean, healthy waterways are vital to our day-to-day lives. They help ensure safe drinking water, suitable habitat for fish and other wildlife, and recreational opportunities that make Maine a special place to live, work, and visit. NRCM is working hard to protect and restore Maine’s lakes, rivers, and streams, now and for generations to come.
New Plan Could Improve Health of Androscoggin
Paper mills and a power company could appeal the cleanup proposal for part of the river near Lewiston. by John Richardson, staff writer Portland Press Herald news story A state environmental panel is expected to rule next month that the Androscoggin River, Maine’s dirtiest major waterway and an inspiration for the U.S. Clean Water Act, Read More
New Voices Come Out in Opposition to Proposed Coal Plant
14 million pounds of coal a day would make Wiscasset the “grittiest village” in Maine Natural Resources Council of Maine * Back River Alliance Today, on the shores of the Sheepscot River in Wiscasset, the Back River Alliance hosted a news conference to highlight the growing opposition to a proposed coal-fired power plant and diesel Read More
NRCM Statement on Proposed Coal Power Plant in Wiscasset
I am here today to announce the decision by the Natural Resources Council of Maine to oppose the coal gasification facility proposed by Point East for the town of Wiscasset. NRCM has many members in Wiscasset and the surrounding towns. They and many others asked us to examine this proposal closely. We have concluded that Read More
Summary of NRCM’s Androscoggin River Discharge Permit Appeal
On Wednesday, May 2, 2007, the Board of Environmental Protection (BEP) began 6 days of hearings to consider an appeal by NRCM and others of the Department of Environmental Protection’s proposed wastewater discharge license for the Verso papermill in Jay, Maine, formerly owned by IP. More than three decades after former Maine Senator Edmund Muskie Read More
Company Seeks Approval to Buy Fort Halifax Dam
Deal Would Keep Dam, Build Fish Passage By Craig Crosby, Staff Writer Kennebec Journal news story WINSLOW — A Boston company is primed to purchase Fort Halifax Dam with the intention of saving it from destruction. Essex Hydro Associates has reached a deal in principle to purchase the dam from FPL Energy, said Barry Flynn, vice Read More
Legislators Seek to Boost Riverfront Community Development
$25 Million Bond to Fund Revitalization Along Maine’s Rivers Today communities have rediscovered clean and healthy rivers as a key to increasing economic opportunities and preserving Maine’s way of life. To seize this opportunity, leverage community investments, and bring about river-based economic revitalization projects, a bi-partisan group of legislators has introduced a $25 million Riverfront Read More
Allagash Wilderness Waterway Deserves Stronger Protection
By Dean and Sheila Bennett Maine Sunday Telegram op-ed On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the creation of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway, it is important to recognize and appreciate what the voters of Maine did in November 1966 when they approved a bond issue to develop the maximum wilderness character of the land Read More
Fort Halifax Dam: SOS Can’t Stop the Unstoppable
Kennebec Journal editorial Things changed after the 1970s, when passage of the Clean Water Act resulted in the cleanup of pollution that flowed into the rivers. And over the last 20 years, a series of legally-binding agreements were entered into by state and federal regulators, citizens and owners of several dams along the Kennebec and Read More