Opinion: PFAS contamination on farms doesn’t have to be forever

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 11, 2023

PFAS chemicals are often referred to as “forever chemicals” — but they don’t have to be forever if we invest in research to discover ways to remediate contaminated farmland and establish safety net supports and business pivots that keep farmers whole and in farming. As the Legislature prepares to hold its June 12 public hearing on the draft plan for the $60 million PFAS fund established last year, we have the opportunity to implement solutions that advance the future of farming in Maine. Farms are critical to Maine’s economic development goals, our climate action plan and our food security targets. Maine has led the nation in responding to PFAS contamination by rallying to support farmers affected by PFAS, and our local food is safer and healthier as a result. Moving forward will do right by farmers, advance our plans as a state, and continue to position Maine as a state leading the way in prioritizing safe, healthy and local food. ~ Amy Fisher, Maine Farmland Trust

Meet the ‘Lions of the Landscape’

MAINE MONITOR • June 11, 2023

A year after “The Feeding Frenzy,” a finalist for a New England Emmy award, Roger McCord takes the Chasing Maine cameras back under his porch in Cumberland to look at the Eastern phoebe nest. Hear from expert Nick Lund of Maine Audubon as he talks about phoebes, birds in general and how to be bird-friendly in your own backyard.

PFAS are roadblocks on the path to ‘zero waste’

MAINE MONITOR • June 11, 2023

Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), chemicals with a devastating fusion of longevity and toxicity, highlight the hole at the center of the “chasing arrows” recycling symbol. Discussions of a zero-waste or circular economy often fail to account for the ‘forever chemicals’ that fall in rain, taint waters and soils, and infiltrate bodies. A world of dwindling resources demands that we move toward systems of resource recovery and reuse that require fewer materials and generate minimal waste. States like Maine and Oregon, with pioneering extended producer responsibility (EPR) laws, are pushing essential change in how we design, manufacture and reuse material goods. But PFAS are an omnipresent reminder that we must also rethink what goes into those goods. 

Researchers renew efforts to track white shark activity off Maine coast

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • June 11, 2023

After just two-and-a-half years of research, Maine biologists are surprised at the number of great white sharks in the Gulf of Maine. A report released by the Maine Department of Marine Resources this spring showed that 23% of white sharks tagged in Massachusetts – 60 sharks in all – have been detected by receivers in Maine since research on the species began here in 2020. This summer, a coalition of biologists will focus on the coastline between Cape Elizabeth and Saco to optimize the state’s limited research equipment and because it is an area with a high level of human activity in the water.

Maine Maritime Museum charts a new course with art installation on warming ocean

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • June 11, 2023

In February, Maine Maritime Museum opened “SeaChange: Darkness and Light in the Gulf of Maine,” an immersive art installation that will run through the end of the year. The project by Gulf of Maine EcoArts recreates an underwater mountain range called Cashes Ledge and invites visitors to reflect on our human impact on the ocean. At Maine Maritime Museum, where the focus has typically been on nautical history, the exhibit is a shift in both its size and subject. “We want to broaden the conversation,” said Sarah Timm, director of education. “We want to make sure the museum is part of relevant conversations, and what’s more relevant for maritime Maine (than) that we’re the fastest warming body of ocean on the planet?”

Off the Maine coast, decade-delayed wind power project faces uncertain future

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • June 11, 2023

After years of delays, a plan to build America’s first commercial-size floating wind turbine off the Maine coast could be scrapped because the project has become too large, complicated and expensive. The proposed turbine and supporting platform, 3 miles off Monhegan Island and about 14 miles from Maine’s Midcoast, may also be superseded by a new proposal – for a research-oriented wind farm floating farther offshore. That’s the dilemma before the top executive pursuing both ventures.

Time has altered Maine’s offshore wind ambitions

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • June 11, 2023

Much has changed during Maine’s 15-year year journey to launch a full-scale test of offshore wind power, and the destination is still in the distance. Today's wind power turbines are far larger than anyone imagined 15 years ago. Danish maker Vesta is testing a 15-megawatt turbine for offshore use, a giant that features 379-foot blades and could power 20,000 homes. It’s likely that the Monhegan project, if built, would feature a turbine on that scale.

These Maine restaurants are making the extra effort for the environment

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • June 11, 2023

Sustainability means much more than sourcing more of your food locally, which many Maine restaurants have excelled at for quite some time. Sarah Nichols, the sustainable Maine director for the Natural Resources Council of Maine, said that more restaurants should be separating their compostable food waste from the rest of their trash, and that many could do a better job with packaging, specifically the takeout materials they use. Here are three Maine restaurants with standout sustainability programs: Crown Jewel on Great Diamond Island in Casco Bay, which is enacting a new composting program to bring it closer to its zero-waste goals; The Great Impasta in Brunswick, the only restaurant in the state certified by the national Green Restaurant Association; and the newly opened Rosella in Kennebunkport, sister operation of what The New Yorker magazine called the only sustainable sushi restaurant in New York City.

Column: Nests are for nesting

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • June 11, 2023

Many of the questions we get at Maine Audubon this time of year are about birds nesting near a dwelling, on lawn furniture, under a boat trailer, and the like – and what can be done about it. Remember: it is illegal to destroy a nest; and for most of the small songbirds nesting near our houses or structures, their nesting cycle is only going to take a couple or few weeks. The nest is just a safe place to keep eggs from rolling out; otherwise, it is a dangerous place for vulnerable babies (in terms of predators). So once the chicks have fledged, they rarely return. Two bits of advice: either stop them before they start, or dissuade them before they can start again. ~ Maine Audubon Staff Naturalist Doug Hitchcox

Column: How do you keep mosquitoes out of a bird bath?

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • June 11, 2023

Water is the one consistent thing that all birds need, so it has the potential to attract a great variety of birds to your yard. How to deal with mosquitoes that develop in your bird bath? Birds need insects, including mosquitoes and black flies, to feed their young. It is the abundance of those insects that propels birds to take multi-thousand-mile migrations to get to Maine each summer, where there will be enough food for them to breed. Instead of dumping pesticides into a bird bath, I recommend cleaning it out every couple of days. ~ Maine Audubon Staff Naturalist Doug Hitchcox.

This is what happens to old windmill blades

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 11, 2023

Aging or damaged wind turbine blades can be shredded to make products like cement, sports clothing, injectable plastic pellets and even gummy bears and sports drinks. Innovation and scientific break-throughs have transformed what was largely a non-recyclable item just a few years ago into new and alternative uses. When the wind is blowing in Maine, these massive blades, some as large as 200 feet long and weighing as much as 52,000 pounds, rotate atop towers to produce electricity on wind farms dotting the state. As the use of wind technology spreads across the nation and the state, what happens to the discarded wind blades is important to environmentally conscious Mainers. According to the U.S. Wind Turbine Database, 72,669 wind turbines are located in 43 states plus Guam and Puerto Rico. The database lists 23 wind farms with 379 individual turbines in Maine.

‘The fire equivalent of an ice age’: Humanity enters new era of wildfires

WASHINGTON POST • June 10, 2023

For the past few years, it has felt like fire is everywhere. In 2020, a wave of smoke and fire washed over the West Coast, burning over 10.2 million acres, and creating the second and third worst smoke days in U.S. history. (New York City’s orange Wednesday claimed the top spot this week.) Just six months earlier, Australia suffered through what is now known as the Black Summer, a months-long series of bushfires that sent native wildlife fleeing and swallowed lush coastal cities with wildfire smoke. Last year, the worst wildfires in two decades torched large swaths of Spain, Portugal, and Romania; in Northwest Spain, fires destroyed ecosystems and devastated local communities. Scientists say climate change plays a role. Stephen Pyne, emeritus professor at Arizona State University, calls it – the “Pyrocene.”

Letter: Another option to reduce fossil fuel use and save money

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 11, 2023

I decided to change from the standard offer supplier for my electricity to a Maine company that buys hydroelectric power as I am committed to reducing my use of fossil fuels due to climate change. My 21-month contract with CN Brown is to purchase their Green Choice power at 10.87 cents per kilowatt hour. The cost for the CMP standard offer electricity supply per kilowatt hour in 2023 is  17.63 cents. You can see I am saving money. Go to the Maine government Office of Public Advocate website at https://www.maine.gov/meopa/electricity/electricity-supply to see what options you have. ~ Pam Person, Orland

Column: ‘Conversations’ with the Caverlys a comical read

SUN JOURNAL • June 10, 2023

Brothers Buzz and Tim Caverly have spent a lifetime working in the Maine outdoors. Both are bona fide legends in their own time and both dedicated their working lives to public service and outdoor recreation — Buzz as a ranger and director in Baxter State Park and Tim as Supervisor of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway for 18 years. Combined, the brothers spent 78 years as conservation officers overseeing Maine’s two premiere wilderness sanctuaries. You just don’t do this amount of time managing and protecting beloved wilderness retreats without racking up real-life adventures and a repertoire of memorable outdoor stories. “Conversations” is Tim’s latest book. It is an easy, enjoyable read that left me laughing. ~ V. Paul Reynolds

Opinion: Meet me on the Merrymeeting Trail

KENNEBEC JOURNAL • June 10, 2023

After 15 years of volunteer effort and community support, the Merrymeeting Trail from Augusta to Brunswick is closer than ever to becoming a reality. Repurposing the corridor as a trail — the Merrymeeting Trail — would bring incredible benefits to our region. Such a change would be considered an interim use, with the corridor forever preserved for rail service. Train service along this line will not be viable anytime soon. Expanding bus service is “the cost-effective, timely, equitable, and climate-friendly way to improve public transportation in the study area. Join a virtual public forum on Thursday, June 22, at 6 p.m. via Zoom to share your perspective with the advisory council members and MaineDOT. (merrymeetingtrail.org) ~ Jeremy Cluchey represents trail groups on MDOT Lower Road Rail Corridor Use Advisory Council

Opinion: Maine needs Poland Spring’s environmental leadership and jobs

SUN JOURNAL • June 10, 2023

We are disheartened by a group of bills that once again targets our company. One bill of concern is L.D. 1111 — a misguided proposal that would usurp the authority of water utilities to exercise their science-based stewardship of local water resources. It limits any contract for the large-scale purchase of water, making it impractical and unaffordable for any large-scale water purchaser — including Poland Spring — to invest in infrastructure and plan future operations, thus eliminating the benefits to ratepayers of any offsets in prices. In a year, we use less than 0.01% of all groundwater in Maine. In addition, we help conserve over 6,000 acres of land around our spring sites to ensure the sustainability of the resource and local environment. ~ Cameron Lorrain and Heather Printup, Poland Spring

Opinion: Passenger Rail Is a Rickety Ride to Debt-Land

SUN JOURNAL • June 10, 2023

Passenger rail service is rearing its expensive and terribly outmoded head again as a transportation option between Portland and Lewiston. Construction estimates have the cost of upgrading the rails, bridges, signaling, safety systems and one-time purchase of equipment at well over $250 million, and that estimate was built on pre-COVID dollars. It’s likely $300 million now and climbing, as federal spending will continue to push inflation to whatever levels. Estimates as to how many people would ride a train that would get very few of them to their ultimate destinations are pathetically low. Annual operations and maintenance costs have been projected in the $15 to $20 million range. Common sense says “kill this idea” now, once and for all. ~ Bob Stone, former Auburn representative to the L-A Passenger Rail Study Committee

Fishing for striped bass will be banned on part of Saco River

MAINE PUBLIC • June 9, 2023

The state is banning striped bass fishing on part of the Saco River starting Saturday due to the high mortality rate of stripers that are caught and released there. Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher says the section between Route 9 and the Cataract Dam will be closed to anglers to protect the fish stock.

Film highlights the frustrations and joys of a Maine moose hunt

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 9, 2023

“The Gift,” the latest film produced by HuntingME, highlights a group’s clear focus on their interpersonal connections and the process involved in pursuing Maine’s largest big-game animal, rather than emphasizing the outcome of the hunt.