Opinion: Muskie’s Androscoggin: To ‘B’ or not to ‘B.’ That is the question

SUN JOURNAL • May 2, 2021

The Androscoggin River was one of the top 10 polluted rivers in the country in 1972 when our senator from Rumford, Ed Muskie, pushed through the Clean Water Act. The Lower River now is the poster child for the Clean Water Act, with data showing that it has met Class B for the past 20 years 99% of the time. City government, industry and environmentalists have worked for 50 years to improve the river’s quality. We are now petitioning the DEP and Legislature to reclassify the river from the lowest class, C, up to Class B. ~ Peter Rubins, chairman of Grow L+A’s River Working Group