PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 25, 2025
A 45,000-ton coal pile on the city’s waterfront that has for years been a source of complaints from neighboring residents and businesses is set to be removed by 2030 thanks to a measure adopted by the City Council on Monday. Councilors voted unanimously to approve an order that will prohibit large coal piles in the city. The pile’s history of spontaneously catching fire, Sarah Southard, a nurse practitioner and member of local advocacy group Coal Free Portland, said earlier this summer. The Cassidy Point coal pile receives shipments of coal by barge about twice a year, and loads are regularly delivered by truck to ND Papermill in Rumford.