TIMES RECORD • July 2, 2025
Friends of Merrymeeting Bay is calling on state regulators to upgrade the water quality classification the Androscoggin River from Gulf Island north of Lewiston to Lisbon’s Worumbo Mill, arguing the river’s quality has long exceeded minimum standards and now merits a higher classification under state and federal law. In a 19-page comment submitted ahead of a June 30 deadline, the nonprofit backed a proposal from Grow L+A, a Lewiston-Auburn-based revitalization group, to reclassify the river between Gulf Island Pond and Worumbo Dam from Class C to Class B — and sharply criticized the Maine Department of Environmental Protection for declining to recommend the change. The group’s argument hinges on a key provision of state law: “When the actual quality of any classified water exceeds the minimum standards of the next highest classification, that higher water quality must be maintained and protected.”