MAINE PUBLIC • April 8, 2021
Gov. Janet Mills' administration is dropping a controversial proposal for restoring endangered Atlantic salmon to the Kennebec River. The plan called for the removal of two hydroelectric dams and consideration of removing two more. And it received significant pushback from multiple stakeholders, including a lawsuit from the dams' owners, Brookfield Renewable Partners. "We received more comments," said Patrick Keliher, commissioner of marine resources, "than in any other rulemaking ever done by the department." Keliher says the department made a procedural error in the way it proposed the rule, as Brookfield had argued in court, and the agency will now draw up a new plan under a different statute.