Forever chemicals in sludge fertilizer pose cancer risk, EPA says

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 14, 2025

Forever chemicals in sewage-based fertilizer spread on pastures can increase cancer risks for people who consume milk, beef, eggs and other products from those farms, with some risks potentially far exceeding acceptable levels, federal officials said Tuesday. The risks will vary from farm to farm, depending on fertilizer makeup and use, but a draft report from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says the risk of consuming milk, beef or eggs from cows or hens raised on sludge-fertilized pastures can exceed safe thresholds by “several orders of magnitude.”

Environmental Priorities Coalition, Lawmakers Announce Priorities for 2025

MAINE CONSERVATION ALLIANCE • January 14, 2025

Today, Maine’s Environmental Priorities Coalition (EPC), a partnership of 39 environmental, conservation, climate action, and public health organizations, joined legislative leaders to announce their collective priorities for the 2025 legislative session. Each year, the EPC identifies a unified policy agenda to advance climate action, further environmental justice, protect biodiversity and the environment, and cultivate healthy Maine communities. The 2025 EPC Legislative Priorities:
•  Making polluters pay for climate damages
•  Preventing future toxic spills of PFAS foam
•  Protecting Mainers from skyrocketing utility costs
•  Reaching 100% clean electricity by 2040
•  Funding the Land for Maine’s Future program
•  Addressing stormwater pollution
•  Improving transportation planning
•  Modernizing the comprehensive planning process
•  Recognizing Wabanaki self-determination

Visiting Maine, Canadian officials warn against trade war as Trump threatens tariffs

MAINE PUBLIC • January 14, 2025

As President-elect Donald Trump pushes for a 25% tariff on Canadian imports, a delegation from the eastern province of Prince Edward Island is pleading the case for continued free trade while touring New England this week. Dennis King is P.E.I.'s premier, said his province plays a key role in cross-border trade, exporting over $1 billion worth of goods to the U.S. in 2023, much of it in the form of potato and seafood products. “If it costs our goods and services 25% more to come across the border, they're going to be costing Americans 25% more to consume them.”

Inventory update shows decrease in toxic foam at Brunswick airport

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 14, 2025

The Town of Brunswick had asked the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority to provide an inventory of all aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) at the airport following a disastrous foam spill in August — Maine’s worst in 30 years. The authority provided an inventory in October, stating that it had 6,300 gallons of the concentrate left in its hangars. In a corrected inventory submitted to the town, the authority is now reporting there are only 5,700 gallons.

Coastal wetlands funding benefits Biddeford, Kennebunkport

COURIER/POST • January 14, 2025

Over $1.2 million in funding from the Maine Natural Resource Conservation Program (MNRCP) was awarded for three projects that will restore and enhance freshwater and coastal wetlands in Biddeford and Kennebunkport. Enhancing the wetlands will improve climate resiliency, enhance wildlife habitat, and reduce flooding impacts. In Biddeford, the funding will be used for a salt marsh enhancement program that will rectify past agricultural impacts to the marsh and improve habitat for saltmarsh sparrows. In Kennebunkport, the funding will be used to restore nine acres of former agricultural field within the 1,200 acre Edwin Smith Preserve to the forested and scrub-shrub wetland.

Letter: Nuclear fusion can help combat climate change

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 14, 2025

Nuclear energy and, in particular, nuclear fusion are essential for a sustainable future while maintaining our current lifestyle. It offers a virtually limitless source of clean energy, unlike fossil fuels, which emit greenhouse gases and drive climate change. Fusion produces energy by fusing light nuclei, such as hydrogen isotopes, and generates minimal radioactive waste. Moreover, the fuel for fusion comes primarily from seawater and lithium, providing abundant resources to meet humanity’s energy needs for millions of years. The safety advantages of nuclear fusion are significant, as the risk of catastrophic failures or meltdowns is virtually nonexistent. Think about it. ~ Joseph Roberts, Portland

Letter: Trump misleads on California wildfires

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 14, 2025

Our soon-to-be president lies daily. Here was one huge lie: Trump responded to the current wildfires in Los Angeles by blaming California Governor Gavin Newsom’s environmental policies, rather than simply offering support for Californians and their firefighters. As someone who fought wildland fires out west for three seasons as a young man, I know the fires are worse because of global warming, mixed with Santa Ana winds, which are also worsened by climate change. Donald Trump, who works hard to deny global warming and sets in place policies that will worsen climate change, bears more responsibility than Newsom. ~ Scott Schiff-Slater, Hallowell

Connecticut is buying Maine solar power for less than we pay

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 14, 2025

Connecticut is purchasing solar power from Maine for its residents to use at a lower price than what Mainers pay for the renewable energy. Connecticut has previously purchased Maine-generated solar for below 10 cents per kilowatt-hour. Ratepayers in the Pine Tree State pay at least 20 cents per kilowatt-hour. While Maine’s ratepayer advocate contends Connecticut ratepayers are getting a great deal, renewable experts said Maine’s heavily scrutinized solar subsidies are not causing the disparity. Connecticut utilities are using large-scale agreements to buy solar power from Maine, which is separate from our subsidy program for small-scale projects.

Invasive plants may be helping ticks spread across Maine

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 13, 2025

It’s possible that disease-carrying tick populations are spreading quickly across Maine with the help of invasive plants. A new five-year research project aims to find out if removing those plants reduces tick population, and if so, what landowners can do. The University of Maine announced the $1.8 million grant-funded project Monday. Ticks and the diseases they carry, including Lyme, anaplasmosis and babesiosis, are becoming an increasing problem for Mainers and the state’s wildlife.

EPA completes review at Saco Tannery Superfund site

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 13, 2025

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has completed a required comprehensive site cleanup review, known as a “five-year review,” for the Saco Tannery Superfund site. The review concluded that the remedy at the Saco Tannery Waste Pits continues to effectively protect peoples’ health and the environment and made recommendations for follow up actions where needed, according to the EPA. The 212-acre Saco Tannery Waste Pits, located on Flag Pond Road, was owned by the Saco Tannery Corporation and operated from 1959 until 1981, when the company filed for bankruptcy and stopped operations. The Waste Pits site, located about four miles north of the tannery, was used as a disposal area for process wastes such as chromium sludges, acid wastes, methylene chloride and caustic substances, according to the EPA. It is estimated that more than 23 million gallons of wastes were deposited in two lagoons and 53 disposal pits.

Behind the scenes of company that makes PFAS testing kits used in Brunswick

TIMES RECORD • January 13, 2025

PFAS are a growing concern in Maine, particularly in Brunswick after 1,450 gallons of firefighting-foam concentrate mixed with 50,000 gallons of water spilled at the airport last August. That spill caused widespread concern about water safety and efforts to mitigate and monitor the fallout. Certified lab tests can cost hundreds of dollars for just one sample, and state-run testing in the wake of the spill is only provided a handful of times a year to pre-selected residents. As a result, many residents have turned to another source for vital water quality monitoring: Cyclopure, an Illinois-based company that sells water test kits at $79 apiece — a more cost-effective but lesser-known alternative that scientists and local organizations have pointed to for more frequent monitoring.

Maine island electric utility gets nearly $9 million for renewable energy expansion

MAINE PUBLIC • January 13, 2025

A nonprofit electric utility serving Vinalhaven and North Haven islands has received a multimillion dollar award to upgrade and expand renewable energy. It’s one of the latest pots of money coming Maine’s way from President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. Fox Islands Electric Cooperative was awarded $8.7 million from the federal agriculture department’s Empowering Rural America program. The money, mostly low-interest loans, is intended to help repower and upgrade a 4.5 megawatt wind farm. It will also go to finance a new solar power array on a capped landfill. The two island communities located 11 miles off the Maine coast.

Column: Deer season never really ends

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 13, 2025

While the statutory season is over, serious deer hunters know the pursuit of whitetails is a a year-round endeavor. In addition to filling the void between seasons, offseason scouting offers valuable clues to the game we pursue. The information can be useful to the individual hunter, but participating in citizen science programs can also aid in management efforts. ~ Bob Humphrey

Letter: Decline of cross-country ski tells a bigger, sadder tale

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 13, 2025

Like other Nordic skiers, I am saddened by Smiling Hill Farm’s decision to close its ski business, as well as by the ongoing struggle of Harris Farm and other family operations affected by diminished snow levels. And I am angry at the reason we are in this situation: our societal inability to heed a quarter-century’s warnings from scientists about climate change. We have it within our power to change the trajectory of climate change, by the way we vote and the lifestyles we choose. We must make the commitment to do better. Much better. ~ Joe Hardy, Wells

Battery ownership question remains unresolved

MAINE MONITOR • January 12, 2025

Nearly two years after the Legislature began debating whether storing energy — in batteries, or reservoirs, or fuel cells — should be considered generation or distribution and whether utility companies should be allowed to have an ownership stake in it, the question remains unresolved. Utility companies (CMP and Versant) used to own both the means to generate electricity (like hydroelectric, coal, nuclear and natural gas plants) and the poles and wires that brought that electricity to homes and businesses. That changed in the 1990s, when the legislature forced companies to sell their generating assets and forbade them from acquiring new ones, separating the “generation” of electricity from its “transmission and distribution.” Both CMP and Versant have argued that energy storage should not be considered generation, and that they should therefore be able to own and control such projects.

Yarmouth approves plan to remove two Royal River dams

MAINE MONITOR • January 12, 2025

The Yarmouth town council voted unanimously this month to remove two town-owned dams on the Royal River and consider fish passage improvements at a stretch of rapids in between them, a historic vote more than two decades in the making. The decision follows a federal proposal released last spring and is the most authoritative step to removing the Bridge Street Dam and East Elm Street Dam since 2009, when the town first began studying how their removal could improve the Royal River’s health and fisheries. Removing the dams could restore sea-going fish populations to the Royal River’s headwaters after more than two centuries of impediment.

PFAS in Maine can travel from stream to ski trail through snowmaking

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • January 12, 2025

As winters grow warmer, ski resorts are increasingly relying on machine-made snow to keep their trails open and powder-loving customers happy. But what happens when the water used to make the snow contains forever chemicals? New research out of Colby College indicates that machine-made snow may be a little-known source of human exposure to PFAS, a group of persistent industrial chemicals that are harmful in even trace amounts.

Editorial: Yes, energy office should be a Cabinet department

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • January 12, 2025

It’s hard to name a more challenging, time-intensive and, lately, changeable policymaking brief than energy. The proposal, part of Gov. Janet Mills’ latest biennial budget, is reportedly revenue-neutral; a new, standalone energy department won’t require any more of an annual operating budget than the existing Governor’s Energy Office already has — a budget that has swelled quite a bit in recent years due to tens of millions of dollars in federal funding and grant support. The cabinet level is where this responsibility, growing in importance every year, should lie.

Opinion: Coastal Maine is not immune to devastating wildfire

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • January 12, 2025

Coastal Maine is not immune to the sort of devastation that is ravaging Los Angeles. We need only look to Acadia in 1947. Now is the time for us to assess our public and personal fire readiness: Should woodlands be thinned of deadwood? Do we have an open barrier between our structures and trees? Do we have a plan of escape? Will we be ready if the wildfire comes? ~ Geoffrey Bates, South Bristol

What these family YouTubers do for Maine’s small firewood industry

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 12, 2025

Old Town native Russ Willey Jr. often wakes up to the sound of his grandfather’s chainsaw running outside. That means it’s time to get to work in the woodyard and start recording videos. Willey, his grandfather Richard Cote Sr. and longtime friend Kevin Violette bring almost 3,000 YouTube spectators along with them to work at Willey’s Firewood. In southern Maine, Phil and Karen Allen film humorous, down-to-earth educational videos about their firewood business, delivery strategies, equipment and the occasional dangers, such as safety episodes. In two years, they’ve gained 153,000 subscribers. The two families are part of a small handful of Mainers making a mark in the community of firewood online companies, whose members call themselves “woodhounds,” around the country.