BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 21, 2022
Gov. Janet Mills on Thursday accused the owner of four Kennebec River dams of “playing politics” in a regulatory dispute weighing on her reelection campaign with former Gov. Paul LePage. Last year, the state advanced a plan that would remove the dams to improve passage for endangered Atlantic salmon and other fish. It was quickly dropped due to a state legal error and the Democratic governor backed off further after pushback focused on effects on the Sappi pulp and paper mill in Skowhegan, which relies on water levels at the dam. On Thursday, Mills was defiant when asked about Brookfield, quickly noting it is one of the world’s biggest companies of its kind. She said it is “playing politics” with the issue and it should not “make people feel their jobs are at risk because they are not.”