by the BDN editorial board Bangor Daily News editorial Unfortunately, a water quality dispute involving state and federal regulators and the state’s Indian tribes is moving further away from resolution. The uncertainty over water quality standards has gotten so bad that Gov. Paul LePage is threatening to quit a system that allows the state to Read More
Waters
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 has been working on clean water issues since we were founded in 1959 to protect the Allagash.
NRCM continues to advocate for clean and healthy waters across Maine. Read more news & blogs about our work to protect Maine's beautiful rivers, lakes, and streams.
Judge Orders Mallinckrodt Manufacturing to Fund Mercury Cleanup Plan for Penobscot River
The ruling is a step toward requiring the company to pay to clean up pollution from the former HoltraChem site – a cost estimated at $130 million. By Kevin Miller, Staff Writer Portland Press Herald news story A federal judge ordered Mallinckrodt Manufacturing Co. on Wednesday to pay to develop a detailed plan to clean Read More
Judge Seeks Plan for Cleanup of Penobscot River at HoltraChem Site
By Dawn Gagnon, BDN Staff Bangor Daily News news story BANGOR, Maine — A federal court judge issued a ruling Wednesday ordering that an engineering firm be hired to develop a plan to clean up mercury deposited in the Penobscot River by a defunct Orrington chemical plant. HoltraChem, which operated from 1967 to 1982, produced Read More
LePage Asks Maine Delegation to Intervene in Tribal Waters Dispute with Feds
By A.J. Higgins MPBN news story AUGUSTA, Maine – As the impasse between Maine and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over water quality standards deepens, the LePage administration is threatening to relinquish some or all of the state’s delegated authority to ensure compliance with the Clean Water Act. Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Patty Aho Read More
Colorado Mining Disaster Shows Maine was Right to Reject Mining Rules — Again
By Nick Bennett, Special to the BDN Bangor Daily News op-ed 2015 has been a year of seconds with respect to mining. For the second time, the Department of Environmental Protection submitted the same weak mining rules it submitted to the Legislature in 2014. For the second time, the Legislature wisely rejected them. Also for Read More
Report: Clean Power Plan Key to Protecting Drinking Water, Wildlife Habitat
News release of the National Wildlife Federation and the Natural Resources Council of Maine MAINE (August 18, 2015) – Maine’s and America’s waterways are already being stressed by climate change and President Obama’s Clean Power Plan is urgently needed to protect them. This is the conclusion of a new report by the National Wildlife Federation, Read More
In Impaired Central Maine Lakes, Alewives Have Outsized Impact
After decades of poor water quality, central Maine lakes such as Vassalboro’s Webber Pond improve after alewives are reintroduced. By Peter McGuire, Staff Writer Kennebec Journal news story VASSALBORO — Frank Richards can remember when regular algae blooms on Webber Pond made having a lakefront home almost unappealing. From July until September, for decades, the Read More
Why There’s Cause for Concern with Maine’s Water Supply
By Mario Tesil and Kate Warner Bangor Daily News oped As other regions of the country struggle to find adequate supplies of clean water, Maine has abundant, and comparatively clean, water resources. Maine’s water is approximately 20 percent to 60 percent cleaner than lakes and streams in the rest of the United States, according to Read More
Don’t Reverse Three Decades of Work that Helped Our Rivers
By Clinton B. Townsend and Landis Hudson, Special to the BDN Bangor Daily News op-ed Maine’s rivers belong to all of us. They flow through our cities and towns and through our history. For the last half-century, the state of Maine has been a leader in protecting our rivers against damage by the hydroelectric power Read More