BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 19, 2021
Maine plans to deny a major dam owner a crucial certification using standards that it unsuccessfully tried to implement in a Kennebec River management plan in another twist in the fraught battle over the fate of four dams on the river. The draft document from the Department of Environmental Protection cites an insufficient ability for the endangered Atlantic salmon and other sea-run fish to pass through Brookfield Renewable’s Shawmut Dam in Fairfield, which is currently in the relicensing process through a federal energy regulator. A denial will hurt Brookfield in its efforts to renew the dam’s federal license, setting a precedent for passage on the river and perhaps forcing removal.