Cheverus drops controversial plan to use pesticide despite Portland’s approval

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 9, 2020

Less than an hour after Portland approved a request to allow Cheverus High School to use synthetic pesticides to treat its athletic fields near Back Cove, the school abruptly dropped the plan in the face of criticism by neighbors and anti-pesticide advocates. The school planned to treat the field with Bifenthrin, which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency labels as a possible human carcinogen. Portland is one of 30 Maine communities with local ordinances to ban or restrict the use of synthetic pesticides. But Portland’s ordinance, adopted in 2018, allows city residents and entities to seek waivers for public health emergencies.

Jay mill to lay off 59 workers after explosion

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 9, 2020

Three months after an explosion rocked the Androscoggin Mill in Jay, owner Pixelle Specialty Solutions said Thursday that it will lay off 59 employees starting on July 13 and possibly more later. The news comes the same day as Sappi North America said it would cut 75 positions and shut down the No. 9 paper machine at its Westbrook mill as part of a restructuring.

Bowdoinham man sues CMP over opt-out fee for smart meters

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 9, 2020

A Bowdoinham man is suing Central Maine Power over the fee to opt out of the utility’s smart meters. Ed Friedman filed his complaint in federal court this week. He claims the monthly fee discriminates against people who do not want to use the smart meters because of a medical condition or disability. Friedman, who is a longtime opponent of the smart meters, has a form of cancer called lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma. The complaint says his doctor has advised him to avoid exposure to radiation, and he does not want to use the wireless meter because he is concerned that it will exacerbate his health problems.

Sappi Paper Announces Cutbacks At Westbrook Mill

MAINE PUBLIC • July 9, 2020

Sappi paper has announced that it is permanently shutting down a paper machine at its mill in Westbrook, as well as most of the facility's biomass energy complex. The company says this will result in the layoff of 75 employees, and the work will be shifted to mills in Skowhegan and Minnesota.

Brunswick agrees to pay fines for landfill violations, moves one step closer to closure

TIMES RECORD • July 9, 2020

Brunswick officials are one step closer to closing the Graham Road Landfill after agreeing to pay $10,000 in fines to the Maine DEP, stemming from years worth of wastewater discharge violations. The system was built in 1984, nearly 20 years before the EPA tightened restrictions for wastewater coming from landfills. Now, the limits are significantly stricter, even though other local facilities that drain into the river allow for higher levels of ammonia. The ammonia’s impact on water quality in the Androscoggin River was negligible. The violations, in part, led to the decision in 2016 to close the landfill, which is now slated for completion in April. Once the Brunswick landfill closes, Casella will take garbage to the Pine Tree Waste transfer station in West Bath.

Eagle Lake in Acadia offers a scenic paddle in crystal clear water

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 9, 2020

Surrounded on all sides by the forested hills and mountains of Acadia National Park, Eagle Lake is one of the largest bodies of freshwater on Mount Desert Island. For decades it has served as the water source for Bar Harbor. It’s also a scenic paddling and fishing location, offering views of Connor’s Nubble, the Bubbles, Pathetic Mountain, The Whitecap, Brewer Mountain and McFarland Mountain.

Jay mill to reduce workforce related to April explosion

SUN JOURNAL • July 9, 2020

Pixelle Specialty Paper Solutions will reduce its workforce by 59 this coming week as a result of an April explosion at the Androscoggin Mill that put a halt to pulp manufacturing at the plant. Further reductions are possible in the near future, company officials said.

Right Whale Is Now Critically Endangered, Global Group Finds

ASSOCIATED PRESS • July 9, 2020

The International Union for Conservation of Nature said Thursday it is moving the North Atlantic right whale from "endangered'' to "critically endangered'' on its Red List of jeopardized species. The Switzerland-based organization's Red List is one of the most-cited endangered species lists in the world.

2020 Is Our Last, Best Chance to Save the Planet

TIME • July 9, 2020

2020 looks like the year when an unknown virus spun out of control, killed hundreds of thousands and altered the way we live day to day. In the future, we may look back at 2020 as the year we decided to keep driving off the climate cliff–or to take the last exit. Taking the threat seriously would mean using the opportunity presented by this crisis to spend on solar panels and wind farms, push companies being bailed out to cut emissions and foster greener forms of transport in cities. If we instead choose to fund new coal-fired power plants and oil wells and thoughtlessly fire up factories to urge growth, we will lock in a pathway toward climate catastrophe. There’s a divide about which way to go.

Aroostook County farmer frees himself as hay baler chews his leg to the bone

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 9, 2020

Adam Dube, 34, was operating the machine at Hilltop Farms when the baler’s steel pinch rollers clawed onto his right pant leg and sucked the limb in. The round baler chewed away at Dube’s calf, tearing off flesh down to the bone. A friend who was already on his way to help out on the farm transported Dube to Northern Maine Medical Center from which Crown Ambulance Services transported him to Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center.

'Devastated': As Layoffs Keep Coming, Hopes Fade That Jobs Will Return Quickly

NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO • July 9, 2020

From airlines to paper mills, the job news is grim, and there are growing signs it won't be getting better anytime soon. On Thursday, the Labor Department reported nearly 2.4 million new applications for state and federal unemployment benefits last week.

Keep Path

MAINE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS • July 9, 2020

In 1848, the Rev. Marcus Keep established what is still called Keep Path, running from the Wassataquoik Tote Road to Katahdin Lake then on to Katahdin. The trail followed old cutting roads to the south shore of Katahdin Lake then to the foot of the mountain where it followed Avalanche Brook up what would become called Keep Ridge. The trail became the favored entryway to the Katahdin region starting from the east. In recognition of the work Rev. Keep had done in establishing the trail to Katahdin on February 19, 1859 the Maine Legislature gave him 200 acres on land at the outlet of Katahdin Lake where he hoped to build the "Katahdin Mountain House," a grand hotel for explorers. ~ Eric Hendrickson

On this date in Maine history: July 9

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 9, 2020

July 9, 1968: A former mayor of Centerville, New Brunswick, organizes a group of his friends to create an earthen dam on Prestile Stream, causing its fetid, smelly water to rise across the border in Aroostook County, Maine. The highly publicized dam protest is one of the blows that kills a highly controversial, scandal-plagued effort by businessman Fred H. Vahlsing to establish a sugar beet refinery in the County. Vahlsing’s existing potato processing plant was dumping pollutants into the Prestile.

Editorial: Trump’s lobster memo may be a positive step, but clarity and follow-through are needed

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 9, 2020

Maine’s lobster industry, despite coming off a six-year period of historic demand, is beset by traps on all sides: the uncertainty of a global pandemic, the ongoing fight over right whale conservation and regulation, impacts of climate change, a trade war with China. A recent memo from President Donald Trump, which directs the U.S. Department of Agriculture to “consider” allowing the lobster industry to access assistance like what has already been available to farmers who have been impacted by China’s retaliatory tariffs, represents a potentially encouraging, if long overdue, step in helping this critical part of Maine’s economy. But encouragement cannot be a substitute for concrete action, clarity and actual funding.

Someone flushing cloth rags nearly destroyed an Aroostook County town’s sewage treatment plant

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 8, 2020

Multiple cloth rags were found stuck in both transfer station pumps at the wastewater treatment plant on Monday, causing the system to malfunction. St. Agatha town officials said that residents need to be mindful of what they dispose of in toilets after the cloth rags temporarily blocked sewage from moving through the system.

Column: It’s the perfect time to go see Maine’s puffins

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 8, 2020

Ironically, there may never be a better time to go see puffins. On the downside, the pandemic requires unusual precautions. On the plus side, some of those precautions mean fewer people on the boats. If ever there was a year to get great views and awesome photos without crowding the rail, this is it. ~ Bob Duchesne 

Bear hunting petition reignites 20-year-old debate over baiting

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 8, 2020

Six years after an initiative to ban bear-baiting by hunters was defeated at the polls for a second time, proponents of that effort are taking a new approach, through the state’s rule-making process. In a virtual public hearing Wednesday, state biologists heard comments on a petition that seeks to establish a bear-baiting season and a limited baiting permit program that would be phased out gradually and eliminated after 2029. In the hour-long hearing Wednesday held by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, 13 people testified against the petition and four supported it, including John Glowa of China, who submitted the petition. IFW has received over 200 comments on the proposal since the petition was submitted.

Downeaster ridership low but rising as trains start running after two-month shutdown

TIMES RECORD • May 5, 2020

Amtrak’s Downeaster trains are back up and running following a two-month service shut down, and ridership numbers, while far below normal, are trending upward, according to rail authority director Patricia Quinn. Last month, officials announced the Downeaster would resume partial service, offering one round trip from Brunswick to Boston on weekdays, starting June 15. The Downeaster suspended service April 13 and did not restart until two months later. One unintended consequence of the pandemic is the further delay of plans to extend service all the way to Rockland via the Coastal Connection, a proposed seasonal weekend pilot program which has already been delayed multiple times.

Climate Action Plan: Maine's Climate Council Drafts Strategies to Address Climate Change

MAINE PUBLIC • June 8, 2020

Maine state leaders have developed a four-year action plan for addressing climate change, and they're now seeking public input on it. Guests: Hannah Pingree, director, Maine Office of Policy Innovation & Future; co-chair, Maine Climate Council; Jerry Reid, commissioner, Maine Department of Environmental Protection; co-chair, Maine Climate Council; Ivan Fernandez, Distinguished Maine Professor, Climate Change Institute & School of Forest Resources, UMaine; one of two scientists on the Climate Council; Joyce Taylor, chief engineer, Maine Department of Transportation; Kathleen Meil, director of policy & partnerships, Maine Conservation Voters.