Hundreds of Maine households are stranded in ‘forever chemical’ limbo

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • June 16, 2024

About 500 Maine households rely on well water that is considered too contaminated to drink under new federal limits on forever chemicals – but not contaminated enough to qualify for state money to install the expensive filtration system needed to make it potable. And those are only the private wells that have been tested by the state. No one knows how many others there are that fall into the gray area between state and federal safety standards and have yet to be tested or aren’t located near a farm that used tainted sludge to fertilize its fields.

Lewiston-Auburn’s treatment plant turns 50. Its legacy: A cleaner, healthier Androscoggin River

SUN JOURNAL • June 16, 2024

50 years ago, the Androscoggin River was one of the most polluted rivers in the country — rated in the top 10 during the 1960s, where untreated sewage flowed into the river. A new wastewater treatment plant opened in Lewiston in March 1974 and helped transform the water quality of the Androscoggin River. Gone is the dark and brown foam, the odor and the toxic chemicals. There was not enough oxygen in the water to sustain fish. Reports of paint peeling on nearby buildings have not been heard in years. Facility leaders will soon change its name to the Lewiston Auburn Clean Water Authority to better reflect its role in cleaning up the river.

Hundreds of Maine households are stranded in ‘forever chemical’ limbo

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • June 16, 2024

About 500 Maine households rely on well water that is considered too contaminated to drink under new federal limits on forever chemicals – but not contaminated enough to qualify for state money to install the expensive filtration system needed to make it potable. And those are only the private wells that have been tested by the state. No one knows how many others there are that fall into the gray area between state and federal safety standards and have yet to be tested or aren’t located near a farm that used tainted sludge to fertilize its fields.

Column: Ethical questions will often arise with conservation efforts

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • June 16, 2024

Some species are declining due to the effects of human activities. To help those species, we need conservation actions. A recent article in Conservation Biology reviews the practice of killing gulls on offshore islands in the Gulf of Maine to protect nesting terns, whose eggs and chicks are subject to gull predation. The argument has been that gulls have increased unnaturally over the past century in the Gulf of Maine because of human impacts. The terns are doing poorly because of the increased gull numbers. The authors of a recent article in Conservation Biology dispute the narrative that gulls are overpopulated in the Gulf of Maine. They argue that gull removal is based on precarious reasoning and may be deterring conservationists from finding more effective ways to improve the plight of terns. ~ Herb Wilson

Column: Debsconeag camps a stunning example of remote Maine at its finest

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • June 16, 2024

Beginning around 1900, Pleasant Point Camps hosted visitors from Boston, New York, Philadelphia and the like, who traveled here by passenger train, boat, portage trail and canoe. These wealthy “rusticators” spent weeks at a time at the camps on Fourth Debsconeag, relaxing deep in the Maine woods, enjoying three square meals a day, fishing for trout and hunting deer. In 2006, the camps were sold to the Chewonki Foundation, an environmental education organization based in Wiscasset, which was looking for a remote site to operate a girls’ camp. Renamed the Debsconeag Lake Wilderness Camps, the facility sits on 11 acres leased from the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands, which owns the surrounding 43,000 acres of the Nahmakanta Public Lands in the heart of the 100-Mile Wilderness. ~ Carey Kish

Nature Connects: Investing in the path forward for Maine’s trails

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • June 16, 2024

From mountain biking to birding, hiking, ATVing, cross-country skiing, commuting, snowmobiling or simply walking, trails connect Mainers with the outdoors. They promote physical activity while immersing us in Maine’s stunning and diverse landscapes. Maine’s trails are a critical component of our outdoor recreation industry, which contributed $3.3 billion to Maine’s economy in 2022 alone. That’s nearly 4% of the state’s GDP. Trails help preserve fragile ecosystems, allowing locals and visitors to experience nature while limiting our physical impacts and inspiring environmental stewards of all ages. Organizations and trail supporters statewide support the Maine Trails Bond, which would authorize $30 million over four years to support the design, development and maintenance of motorized, nonmotorized and multiuse trails throughout the state. ~ Pete Didisheim, Natural Resources Council of Maine, and Gabe Perkins, Maine Trails Coalition and Inland Woods + Trails

Maine vegetable breeder remembered as a generous teacher

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 16, 2024

A Maine man who left a significant mark on farms, gardens, plants, seeds and the people who grow them across the country died on June 1 at age 69. John Navazio of Belfast, a plant breeder, professor and author, is remembered by family and colleagues as an enthusiastic resource for organic growers. He spent the past decade as the plant breeding manager for Johnny’s Selected Seeds in Winslow. He previously worked for the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor and universities and seed companies across the country.

Volunteers plant wild American chestnuts to create blight-resistant variant

MAINE PUBLIC • June 14, 2024

A dozen volunteers planted 10 wild American chestnut seedlings at a Yarmouth nature preserve in the hopes of helping restore the devastated American chestnut tree. The volunteer group organized by the Maine chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation planted the seedlings at the Cousins River Fields and Marsh Reserve cared after by the Maine Coast Heritage Trust. Chestnut trees in Maine grow sparsely as the state is on the northernmost edge of where the plant grows. Due to that low density, the blight did not devastate the trees as heavily. Eva Butler, vice president of Maine's chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation, said Maine now has one of the highest populations of wild chestnuts in the nation.

Industry, clean power groups breath a sigh of relief as Senate approves energy regulators

MAINE MORNING STAR • June 14, 2024

Three nominees by President Joe Biden to serve on the nation’s top energy regulatory panel, which had risked losing a quorum, were approved this week by the U.S. Senate. The vote to approve the new members — two Democrats and a Republican — for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was cheered by industry, renewable power and environmental groups alike, who said a full a complement of commissioners is essential to the body meeting the challenges posed by an aging electric grid, a fast-shifting generation mix and debates over natural gas infrastructure, among other pressing energy issues.

Pick-your-own strawberry farms open with a promising start

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 14, 2024

This week marks the opening of several pick-your-own strawberry farms in southern Maine. “This year should be terrific compared to last year,” said David Handley, vegetable and small fruit specialist and professor of horticulture at the University of Maine. “It was a rainy year last year, and we had drought for three years before that.” The milder winter was also helpful for growing, he said.

Railroad fined $16,500 for spilling 15,000 gallons of oil into Maine waterways

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 13, 2024

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has fined CPKC (formerly Canadian Pacific), a freight railroad, around $16,500 for two train derailments in the last two years that caused nearly 15,000 gallons of oil to spill into waterways. In October 2022, a CPKC train carrying 33 cars of hazardous materials derailed near Milo, Maine. Five of those hazardous-materials cars derailed from the tracks. And six months later, on April 15, 2023, another of CPKC’s trains flew off the tracks near Rockwood. Three of its locomotives and six of its freight cars derailed, including two cars carrying hazardous materials. All but the two hazardous-materials cars caught fire, igniting a forest fire. Neither of the derailments resulted in leaks from the cars carrying hazardous materials. But a significant amount of fuel leaked from both trains.

Column: You can see puffins on 5 Maine islands

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 13, 2024

Atlantic puffins are rarely seen from shore. Their only nesting colonies in the United States are on five islands along the Maine coast. Puffins stay close to these islands through nesting season, then wander far out to sea, rarely approaching the mainland. Practically the only way to see a puffin is to get on a boat. Eastern Egg Rock is the southernmost colony, midway between Pemaquid Point and Boothbay Harbor. It’s the smallest colony, with the fewest puffins. But it’s visited by three different boats, making short-notice bookings more available. The northernmost puffin nesting island is Machias Seal Island. It lies nine miles off the Maine coast near Cutler, and it’s claimed by both the United States and Canada. One boat from each country visits, and it’s the only island that allows visitors to land. ~ Bob Duchesne

Rail agency stops operations, halts Downeaster train extension to Rockland

MAINE PUBLIC • June 13, 2024

Any plans to extend Amtrak’s Downeaster train service to Rockland have been derailed for now. Midcoast Railservice announced they were terminating the lease agreement with the Maine Department of Transportation to operate the Rockland Branch railroad. Midcoast had been implementing plans for a passenger service between Rockland and Brunswick. But last fall, Midcoast lost its largest customer in Dragon Cement in Thomaston after the plant announced it would cease cement production. 93% of Midcoast's freight traffic in 2023 came from Dragon Cement. "The passenger service alone without the freight would never be self-sustaining without public subsidization."

Paris moves forward with solar project on former town dump

ADVERTISER DEMOCRAT • June 13, 2024

The Town of Paris Select Board on Monday approved a one-year lease option for the 37.1-acre capped landfill on Kilgore Road. The option will allow the Asheville, North Carolina-based company, Paddle Energy, to ask Central Maine Power Co. to evaluate potential infrastructure upgrades that may be necessary to plug a solar project into the grid.

York County resident dies from rare virus caused by tick bite

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 13, 2024

A resident of York County has died from a rare virus caused by a tick bite, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. It is the first fatal case of Powassan virus infection in Maine since May 2023. Two other Maine residents – one in Kennebec County and the other in Lincoln County – are known to have been infected with the virus so far this year.

Maine to add high-speed EV charging stations at 17 locations

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 12, 2024

Opponents to the government policy that seeks to expand electric vehicle use in Maine have argued, among other points, that too few charging stations are in place, particularly in the state’s vast rural reaches. On Wednesday, Gov. Janet Mills announced that the state will add 52 high-speed electric vehicle charging stations at 17 locations in the next year, with many in rural areas.

2 more midcoast towns will restrict a company’s mining plans

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 13, 2024

The midcoast towns of Warren and Union have joined neighboring Hope in passing stricter limits on industrial-scale metal mining. The vote comes after the towns temporarily banned mining for months in response to efforts by Canadian mining company Exiro to extract cobalt, nickel and copper near Crawford Pond, a body of water that touches all three towns.

Opinion: Even tourism’s tensions can be good for Maine

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 13, 2024

Maine is beautiful and quaint, but a large reason why people from away return to our state is the hospitable character of the people here. The camaraderie that Mainers share for each other is palpable, and tourists want to experience it. Tourist season in Maine brings other people closer to Maine. In that way, it brings Mainers closer together. We all sweat, complain and laugh our way through the traffic and long working hours as we uphold this tourist industry, occasionally wishing September would come sooner. But in a backwards sort of way, tourists remind us of who we are and why we love our home state. ~ Charlie Hunter, Yarmouth, senior studying English at Whitman College