Some blame state for mills’ pollution By Beth Daley, Globe Staff Boston Globe news story The Androscoggin River that served as the putrid inspiration for the federal Clean Water Act three decades ago has long been cursed with a bitter irony: It has never met the minimum standards of that law. Now, government officials in 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.
On the Androscoggin, DEP Should Start Over
Editorial Portland Press Herald When a state agency admits it got something as important as a pollution discharge permit wrong, it should go back and make it right. So it is with the Department of Environmental Protection, which no longer supports a permit it issued for an International Paper mill on the Androscoggin River. The Read More
Ex-DEP Chief, Legislator Discussed “Trade”
By John Richardson, Portland Press Herald Writer Portland Press Herald news story Maine’s former environmental commissioner put a hold on a violation notice against a Jay paper mill to try to win support from a legislator who also works as the mill’s environmental manager, according to internal state records. Documents released this week, including memos Read More
DEP Found in Violation of State Law
AG: Documents withheld in Androscoggin cleanup Bangor Daily News news story An investigation by Maine Attorney General Steven Rowe’s office has found that Department of Environmental Protection staffers violated the state’s public records law by not making available documents from private meetings with paper company officials. In response, Gov. John Baldacci announced Friday that workers Read More
What is Right for the River is Right for Maine
By Neil Ward, founding member of the Androscoggin River Alliance Lewiston Sun Journal DEP’s course correction holds hope for unleashing the true potential of the Androscoggin River. I applaud the recent move by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection to revisit the International Paper discharge license issued last September. New pollution monitoring data from IP Read More
NRCM, NRDC Sue International Paper for Polluting Androscoggin River
AUGUSTA Maine – This morning, the Natural Resources Council of Maine and the Natural Resources Defense Council filed suit against International Paper (IP) in US District Court in Bangor. “We are suing International Paper because the Androscoggin River below their papermill in Jay is so polluted that it has never met the bare minimum standards Read More
Peter Brann and Ben Lund Receive 2004 Environmental Award
The Natural Resources Council of Maine recognizes with deep appreciation their efforts to defend Maine’s environment in the courts. Peter Brann and Ben Lund, partners in the Lewiston-based law firm of Brann & Isaacson, have brought their considerable professional skills, tenacity, and love of Maine to a necessary part of the advocacy process—using the courts Read More
Senators Advance $2 Million Spending Measure to Restore Penobscot River
News from the Penobscot Partners: A coalition of the Penobscot Indian Nation, American Rivers, Atlantic Salmon Federation, Natural Resources Council of Maine, Maine Audubon and Trout Unlimited News Release (Washington, DC; Bangor ME) Conservationists and the Penobscot Indian Nation praised Senators Olympia J. Snowe and Susan Collins (both R-Maine) for securing a $2 million line Read More
Maine’s Newest River
by Jeff Clark Down East magazine August 2004 Five years after the demolition of Edwards Dam, the Kennebec has rebounded. Five years ago the Edwards Dam disappeared from the Kennebec River in Augusta. Today, no one misses it. Jim Thibodeau doesn’t miss it. The removal of Edwards Dam drained seventeen miles of dead-water impoundment below Read More