Portland landowner balks at Downeaster train station proposal

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 27, 2025

The proposed site for a new passenger train station in Portland has hit a snag with a key property owner saying he’s not on board. Bill Black, who owns a commercial office and warehouse building at 172 St. John St., said the concept plan pitched by Amtrak Downeaster officials would require a lot more of his land than he’s willing to give up. “I’m not against the station,” said Black, standing outside his 57,000-square-foot blue metal building. “I’m against the way they’re trying to take more of my land.”

Letter: Gardening coverage should not be pruned

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 27, 2025

Reading there would be changes to the Food & Dining section of the newspaper in 2025, brought me hope that you would begin featuring more gardening articles or bring back a full gardening section. But, to my dismay, instead you are doing away with the only gardening writer you have. Gardening has always been strong in Maine and gardening, during COVID-19, exploded, with people growing their own food, putting in fruit trees, creating flower gardens and creating outdoor spaces as a way to get through the pandemic. There is so much to gardening that could be written. More eople are growing their own food to ease the pain of high food costs as well as all the additives in our food. People want healthier options. Gardening is a way to achieve that. ~ Priscilla Kennie, Dayton

A new threat emerges at Superfund sites in Maine

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 27, 2025

The federal agency has found forever chemicals at several Superfund sites in Maine that could require new scrutiny. The EPA had not tested for the man-made forever chemicals, known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, until the past five years, and regulations at the time did not mandate that the toxic chemicals be cleaned up. That changed last July when a new federal regulation designated two of the most studied and commonly used PFAS as hazardous substances, requiring them to be remediated if they exceed federal standards.

Donald Trump’s wind order puts Maine’s energy future in question

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 27, 2025

President Donald Trump has called wind turbines costly and ugly. With a stroke of his pen, he also added a new roadblock to Maine’s quest to meet its climate goals. By signing a first-day executive order that halts offshore wind lease sales and pauses permitting for both onshore and offshore wind projects, the new president has potentially upended Maine’s statutory target of using 100 percent clean energy by 2040. The state’s plan to do so relies on installing 3,000 megawatts of offshore wind by that same year.

Lawmakers to propose bills this legislative session that address toxic firefighting foam

MAINE PUBLIC • January 26, 2025

The spill of firefighting foam containing PFAS at the former Brunswick Naval Air station last summer has lawmakers developing bills for this legislative session that address toxic foam remaining at the spill site, and also PFAS concentrate in storage across the state. Lawmaker Dan Ankeles represents Brunswick Landing where the spill occurred. At a meeting with Friends of Casco Bay on Friday, he said one bill will ensure that the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority on the site can no longer store any firefighting foam on property it owns or leases. A second bill, he said, would create a statewide inventory of PFAS concentrate of 5 gallons or more, while a third would establish a take-back collection and disposal program for that inventory.

Editorial: Maine is a casualty of Trump opposition to offshore wind energy

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • January 26, 2025

President Trump’s executive order temporarily halting offshore wind lease sales in federal waters and pausing approvals, permits or loans for onshore and offshore wind projects is bad news for Maine. The first victims of this sweeping decision are the commercial leases for floating turbines in the Gulf of Maine. The second hit lands on Sears Island, the state’s preferred site for a terminal at which to build turbines for offshore wind energy. The third project is the plan for a cluster of as many as 12 floating turbines over 15 square miles that promises to give a number of parties an opportunity to study offshore wind in practice. This executive order was signed by President Trump without a care for the economy of the future or the creation of thousands of jobs for more than one generation of workers. We’ll save the climate change argument for another day.

Letter: Maine’s shoreline should be open to all

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • January 26, 2025

When Maine gained statehood 200 years ago, the opening of the founding documents declared that Maine and its citizens owned from “high water” out 200 miles, and thus secured control and access to those natural resources for the benefit of Mainers. Somehow, about 40 years ago, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruledthat recreation on beaches in front of homes lucky enough to have a beach was the preserve of the owner of the house. Walking along the shore at low tide should be a right worth protecting. ~ George Seaver, Waldoboro

Want to give Maine wildlife a hand? Here’s how.

SUN JOURNAL • January 26, 2025

Next month, Mainers will be able to sign up for a project that has elements of kid-pleasing science, life-saving data collection, protect-the-Earth environmentalism and the kind of eww factor common whenever cars and frogs meet. For the eighth year, registration will take place in February for Maine Big Night: Amphibian Migration Monitoring, a statewide, after-dark affair that runs from March 15 to May 15. The project is an outdoor-based three-fer, giving Mainers a chance to learn more about their environment while providing important information to the state and possibly saving the lives of both humans and wet wildlife. And those involved say it’s a good time too.

Maine’s offshore wind ambitions: Big ideas tempered by setbacks and competition

MAINE MONITOR • January 25, 2025

Maine’s formal interest in developing ocean wind energy dates back to 2008, when former Gov. John Baldacci created an Ocean Energy Task Force to devise a strategy. In 2012, there was a $120 million plan from Statoil to float four, 3-megawatt wind turbines in state waters off Boothbay Harbor.  But the political climate changed when Republican Paul LePage was elected governor. Frustrated by the maneuvering, Statoil pulled the plug on its project. Meanwhile, Principle Power, an American company that also once considered Maine but abandoned the effort in 2010 after complaining it was edged out by UMaine, christened a 48-megawatt floater off Scotland in 2021, the Kincardine Offshore Windfarm.

Once poised to lead on offshore wind, Maine has stumbled

MAINE MONITOR • January 25, 2025

News reports last week detailed President Donald Trump’s efforts to derail offshore wind energy in the United States. But in an undisclosed location in Trenton, contractors are putting the finishing touches on a 375-ton concrete structure aimed at putting Maine back in the global race to design cost-effective platforms for the next era of ocean energy — commercial, floating offshore wind farms. Trump’s order to pause federal offshore wind leases and permits won’t stop this effort. If all goes as planned, researchers from the University of Maine will launch the 52-foot wide, quarter-scale concrete hull, with a turbine blade reaching 108 feet above the waterline, later this year off Castine. But Maine and the United States have been passed by other countries that have full-scale floating projects at sea and by developers that are ahead in advancing their designs.

Guidebook highlights 100 wonderful places

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 25, 2025

Florida Lake is an oasis of tranquility just a few miles north of the hubbub of the downtown Freeport shopping district. The 167-acre, town-owned property features a large, shallow lake (it just so happens to be shaped like the state of Florida, hence the name), wetlands, woods and a figure-eight hiking loop that measures just over 3 miles. The preserve at Florida Lake is just one of many in Southern Maine Trails, which features 100 wonderful saunters suitable “for any season, any age, any ability.” The colorful guide was created by Jill McMahon of Portland, and includes a wide variety of trails in 20 towns across the region ranging from Topsham to Wells and Windham to Cape Elizabeth.

Maine is a proving ground for commercial chaga farming

SUN JOURNAL • January 25, 2025

Three years ago Justin and Nikki Triquet set out to help others heal through the use of medicinal chaga and to prove to the naysayers that commercial chaga farming, not foraging, is not only possible, but sustainable. The Triquets have refined their techniques and routine since then. The couple is planning for more farms and a future of turning fungi found naturally in Maine into a key and sustainable agribusiness — the first of its kind in North America.

Snowmobilers rescued after falling through ice on Moose River

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 25, 2025

Three snowmobilers were rescued Friday afternoon after falling through the ice at the mouth of Moose River, which empties into Moosehead Lake. According to Rockwood Fire and Rescue, at about 2:30 p.m. they received a call that the snowmobilers had ended up in the water. Rescue crews were able to immediately rescue two men, but a third snowmobiler was missing. That person was later found safe.

Opinion: Coastal living may endanger your life

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 25, 2025

Coastal living is a dream for many Americans, but the effects of climate change are making it increasingly risky. Rising sea levels and stronger storms are just the beginning; the threat to public health is growing and millions living on the coast are already feeling the impact. At the forefront, the threat to coastal living is climate change. Sea levels are quickly rising due to melting glaciers and expanding warm oceans, putting coastal areas at risk. Storm surges are becoming more intense, and high-tide flooding now occurs up to 900% more often than it did 50 years ago. Environmental changes affect public health, too. As the environment continues to change and storms grow stronger, we must prioritize protecting coastal communities and preventing disaster. ~ Kristina Carvalho, MSW, policy analyst, Boston University School of Public Health, Scarborough

Lewiston finalizing plans to overhaul Simard-Payne Memorial Park

SUN JOURNAL • January 24, 2025

City officials and a team of consultants are close to finalizing a plan for overhauling Simard-Payne Memorial Park over a number of years as the city looks to draw more attention and investment to the riverfront. City councilors received a preview this week of potential concept designs for the park, with a final design expected to be done by late March. The plans could include features such as canal overlooks, an adventure playground and splash pad, an enlarged amphitheater and space for a future pavilion that could host concerts.

Mining company to sell some land in Penobscot County

MAINE MONITOR • January 24, 2025

Canadian mining exploration company Wolfden Resources Corporation will sell 3,770 acres of the company’s 6,862 acre timberland property in northern Penobscot County to one of its stakeholders, Altius Minerals Corporation, in an apparent effort to finance exploration work at a site in Nevada. Wolfden will sell the land, timber and mineral rights, while retaining the option to explore and buy back the mineral rights for five years. Wolfden will retain ownership of the Pickett Mountain deposit and all of its mineral resources. The deal is expected to close for $1.5 million at the end of January. Last February, LUPC staff rejected Wolfden’s second attempt to apply for a rezoning after LUPC staff said the “project does not represent environmentally responsible mining,” and that approving the rezoning would not meet the commission’s obligation to “prevent the despoliation, pollution and detrimental uses of the water.” 

A quarter of all North Atlantic right whales believed to be in a small area off the Maine coast

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 24, 2025

Maine’s top fisheries official on Friday asked lobstermen to reduce their vertical fishing lines in an area in the Gulf of Maine where endangered North Atlantic right whales are believed to be gathered. “As many as 90 individual right whales have been identified” off the western edge of Jeffreys Ledge, Patrick Keliher, commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources, said. Roughly 370 North Atlantic right whales are estimated to be living. NOAA Fisheries describes them as “one of the world’s most endangered large whale species” and cites vessel strikes and entanglement with fishing gear as the leading causes of mortality.

Maine’s marine resources chief urges boaters to avoid right whales, pauses some enforcement

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 24, 2025

As dozens of North Atlantic right whales continue to group near Jeffreys Ledge, marine officials are urging lobster fishermen to remove nearby fishing gear and said they will not be enforcing state and federal laws mandating the use of two endlines on trap gear. As many as 90 individual right whales — a significant portion of the critically endangered species’ global population — have been identified off the ledge’s western edge within the last two weeks.

Conservation Law Foundation sues aquaculture company for pollution

MAINE PUBLIC • January 24, 2025

The Conservation Law Foundation has filed a lawsuit against Cooke Aquaculture, saying the company has violated the Clean Water Act at its Down East salmon pens. CLF said the salmon pens release fish feces, fish food and pieces of dead salmon into the surrounding water, polluting the water and ocean floor. "So due to the waste, the lobstermen have had to deal with foul smelling black sludge on their traps," said Heather Govern, vice president of CLF's clean air and water program. "They've had to drive further out from the harbors and away from Cook's cages in order to drop their lobster traps." Govern said Cooke's programs can work, just not like this.

Norway land trust names interim director

SUN JOURNAL • January 24, 2025

Western Foothills Land Trust has named Kelli Shedd its interim executive director. Shedd has worked for the trust since 2019 in development and community outreach. Shedd previously served as marketing and membership manager for Loon Echo Land Trust in Bridgton, and has worked in conservation and outdoor recreation throughout New England for over 20 years.