Opinion: Running out of options for wastewater sludge

TIMES RECORD • March 23, 2026

Maine has a sewage sludge problem. A byproduct of wastewater treatment, sludge has to be disposed of somehow. However, our sole disposal option is quickly becoming untenable and we have no backup plan in place. Until recently, most of Maine’s nutrient-rich sludge was destined for land application. Following the discovery that this practice was contaminating soil and water with PFAS, Maine banned land application in 2022. Therefore, landfilling is Maine’s single sludge-disposal option. This is deeply problematic. Long-haul transportation is expensive. Rotting sludge emits the potent greenhouse gas methane, accelerating climate change. PFAS-laden, wet sludge may leach contaminants into local soil, groundwater and water bodies. And we are fast running out of in-state landfill space. We need a sustainable plan of action. ~ David Conwell, Citizens’ Climate Lobby

Northport to vote on banning RV parks in response to controversial blueberry barren development

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 23, 2026

Amid concerns that a scenic blueberry barren could be turned into an RV resort, Northport’s Select Board voted Monday at an overflowing meeting to put to a town vote a 180-day moratorium on new commercial campgrounds and RV resorts. A Massachusetts couple, Michael Ruggiero and Ariel Savitz, want to build the resort on a piece of land on Beech Hill Road that is popular with hikers, stargazers and photographers. The resort could eventually include up to 80 sites, glamping domes and spaces for wellness retreats. The moratorium would give the town time to draft regulations, which would then need to be approved at a future town meeting.

Maine renews attempt to expand state landfill

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 23, 2026

Maine regulators have once again cleared the way for an expansion of the state-owned landfill, the latest chapter in the legal tug of war that pits Maine’s waste disposal needs against the environmental rights of the Penobscot Nation. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection issued its revised public benefit determination Monday, approving a 61-acre expansion of the Old Town facility that is 2 miles from the Penobscot Reservation at Indian Island. The move follows a legal challenge that saw a Penobscot County Superior Court judge temporarily halt the project in January, ordering regulators to “more thoroughly” consider the cumulative environmental impacts on the tribe.

DEP again gives initial approval for Juniper Ridge Landfill expansion

MAINE MORNING STAR • March 23, 2026

For the second time, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection has found that expanding the Juniper Ridge Landfill would benefit the public. The department issued a second positive public benefit determination Monday after a judge struck down the first determination earlier this year. “The court couldn’t have been clearer: look at the full picture – the pollution, the history, the cumulative harm,” Nora Bosworth, a staff attorney at Conservation Law Foundation, said in a press release after the decision. “Instead, DEP has once again treated environmental justice as a checkbox rather than a commitment to the people the law was meant to protect.” 

Juniper Ridge Landfill can expand, state says again after judge orders reconsideration 4

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 23, 2026

The Juniper Ridge Landfill can expand, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection decided for a second time — but a judge must sign off first. A new public benefit determination allows the Old Town landfill to expand, the Conservation Law Foundation said Monday. The foundation and Penobscot Nation sued the Maine DEP in November 2024 over the proposed expansion. The department had to reconsider allowing the expansion after a judge ruled in January that the Maine DEP did not complete “critical” fact finding during the public benefit determination. The Maine DEP decided Oct. 2, 2024, there is a public benefit to the expansion and expanding the landfill is not inconsistent with environmental justice.

Service restored after Lewiston water main break causes flooding, boil order

SUN JOURNAL • March 22, 2026

A water main break Sunday morning in Lewiston on Orange Street has caused flooding of the streets and residential homes and prompted the city to issue a boil water order. As city officials worked to address the break, school in Lewiston on Monday has been canceled. The main was fixed and service restored, according to a city press release sent around 8 a.m. Monday. Water quality was tested Sunday night, and more information should be released Monday afternoon, the city said.

Five fun things to do in South Portland

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 23, 2026

Hannah Holmes once wrote a book about her South Portland backyard. “Suburban Safari: A Year on the Lawn” was a study in urban ecology — very close to home. A science writer-turned-real estate agent, Holmes understands why so many of her clients want to live there. She recommended things to do in South Portland. “Spring Point is such a cool spot. It’s so atmospheric. There’s these huge granite block fortifications right on the water, and you can peek out the little gun slips and look right into the ocean. It just takes you back in time. There’s a little beach there where dogs can jump in the water to cool off in the summer, and there’s the breakwater that goes all the way out to Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse, so without a boat, you can really get right out into Casco Bay.”

Opinion: The time to support Land for Maine’s Future is now

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 23, 2026

While it’s well known that our publicly accessible lands and waters are a proven ingredient in building healthy lives, healthy communities and a healthy economy, our state’s most effective tool for bringing more of these benefits to more Mainers has run dry. Launched in 1987, Land for Maine’s Future has been a truly nonpartisan success story, protecting more than 300 places for their natural and recreational values in all 16 of Maine’s counties. Land for Maine’s Future was last funded in 2021 after nearly a decade of inactivity and all the funding from 2021 has already been allocated to a backlog of projects. While there are multiple proposals currently in our Legislature that will fund Land for Maine’s Future at some level, none of them will come to fruition without our broad and vocal support. ~ Betsy Cook, Trust for Public Land, and Jenny Kordick, Maine Outdoor Brands

Opinion: A stable plan for electricity rates is what Maine’s cities and towns need

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 23, 2026

Stable prices and dependable service help people plan their lives, allow businesses to operate with confidence and give communities a sense of security. But today, families, towns and local businesses are facing rising costs and more frequent severe weather. That makes it even more important for the electric grid, a system we all rely on every day, to strike the right balance between keeping electricity affordable and ensuring the power stays on. Maine needs timely decisions and a clear electricity rate plan that allow necessary work to move forward without long delays, while also keeping costs stable for Mainers. Predictable planning keeps costs steadier, improves reliability and helps ensure the electric system is safe, dependable and ready for the future. ~ Alexander C. MacPhail, Biddeford Saco Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Waterville man pushes referendum to loosen backyard chicken rules

CENTRAL MAINE • March 23, 2026

Leo St. Peter says the city’s rules for keeping chickens are too restrictive and voters should be able to decide whether to loosen them. He’s trying to collect enough petition signatures from residents to put the matter to a referendum. “I’m bringing 20 dozen eggs with me every time I go out,” he said. “Everybody who signs the petition will get a free egg.” St. Peter, 57, acknowledged he was speaking tongue-in-cheek about giving away eggs while collecting signatures (he knows doing so could be illegal), but he is trying to make a point. The City Council took an initial vote Tuesday to maintain the city’s required lot size for keeping six chickens at 8,000 square feet, which is about a fifth of an acre. St. Peter had asked it to be reduced to 5,000 square feet, or a little more than a tenth of an acre. Councilors must take a second vote to finalize the matter.

Letter: Maine needs agriculture and forestry bond

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 23, 2026

My family’s company, Treeline, Inc. was founded in 1981 and is a diversified, second-generation logging and forest trucking business that supports over 100 families. Businesses like Treeline, Inc., depend on reliable local markets for wood. When mills close or reduce capacity, the impact is felt by loggers and their families immediately, in rural parts of the state, which aren’t blessed with diversity of opportunity. Like all other logging businesses, we are facing rising costs. Markets have also been reduced and we are being paid less for the products that we produce. Economics are simply not in our favor, but a $40 million bond being considered at the Legislature will help companies like ours reinvest for the future in face of strong headwinds. I urge all Maine Legislators to please support the agriculture, forestry, and food producers bond. ~ Whitney Goodman, Lincoln

Maine's clean energy jobs sector grew again in 2024

MAINE PUBLIC • March 22, 2026

Maine's clean energy sector employed nearly 16,200 workers in 2024 according to a new state report, adding to the thousands of jobs created in energy efficiency, renewable energy and other industries in recent years. The sector grew faster in Maine between 2020-2024 than any other New England state. The report reflects Maine's industry before President Donald Trump's second term during which the administration has tried to block renewable energy development and stripped federal tax breaks to make homes and businesses more energy efficient.

A quarter of schools tested for harmful radon gas have at least one room above EPA action level

MAINE PUBLIC • March 22, 2026

Almost a quarter of the schools in Maine tested for harmful radon gas had at least one room above the Environmental Protection Agency's action level, according to a new report. Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States, and Maine ranks third worst in the nation for estimated radon-induced lung cancer. At the current funding level, testing rate, and fee structure, the report says it will take 37 years and cost $3,500,000 million dollars to complete initial radon testing on all the schools in the state.

Could an underwater AI-data center come to Maine?

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • March 22, 2026

Louis Wolfson, a Needham, Massachusetts-based realtor, is trying to orchestrate the development of an underwater artificial intelligence data center — all powered by the energy of the tides and cooled by the surrounding seawater. Both elements of the project, if realized, are poised to be among the first of their kind. Taken together, they represent a new approach to powering the AI tech boom. He filed a preliminary permit application last month to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission requesting approval to study a 400-acre site. Some in the Passamaquoddy community at Sipayik, which lies just over two miles to the west from the project site, have their doubts. The new project could threaten tribal fishing access — Passamaquoddy culture — and bring about significant economic consequences for the local community.

Ellsworth mulls $100K program to protect ash trees from emerald ash borer

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 22, 2026

The presence of emerald ash borers was confirmed on Mount Desert Island last April, adding to a growing list of infestations in many parts of the state. The invasive wood-boring beetle kills ash trees by feeding on their inner bark, nearly always ensuring the tree’s death within three to four years. The insect has wiped out tens of millions of ash trees in North America, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Since infestations were detected around Mount Desert Island, Bangor and Hermon, Ellsworth is weighing a $100,000 treatment program that could protect the city’s ash trees from the invasive species.

This Orono forest has a pine tree so big it has its own name

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 22, 2026

Meet “Big Old Tree,” the enormous pine that’s featured on the Orono Land Trust logo. The tree is located at Jeremiah Colburn Natural Area, on land that was the catalyst for the formation of the Orono Land Trust. Though the town owns Jeremiah Colburn Natural Area, the Orono Land Trust continues to manage the property. It’s home to about 3.5 miles of intersecting trails. Originally published in March 2022

How to find sea anemones along Maine’s coast

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 22, 2026

Sea anemones evolved more than 500 million years ago, making them among the earliest animals on Earth. I didn’t know that they lived along the coast of Maine until I was an adult and learned more about tidepools: saltwater pools that form between high and low tide. The Gulf of Maine is home to several anemone species, each with a slightly different appearance. There’s the frilled anemone, burrowing anemone, ghost anemone, striped anemone, silver-spotted anemone and northern red anemone. They’re certainly not as abundant as other tidepool creatures such as barnacles, periwinkles, dogwhelks, limpets and crabs. Nevertheless, in recent years, I’ve stumbled across a number of locations where anemones seem to thrive.

Machias committee recommendations aim to limit flood risk

MAINE MONITOR • March 21, 2026

The Upper Machias Bay Master Plan Leadership Committee has released its recommendations for infrastructure improvements following a public meeting earlier this month. Among the recommendations to address flooding in downtown Machias are fixing drainage issues on Short Street and at the base of Court Street, including slowing stormwater that flows downhill there; working with the Maine Department of Transportation to increase inspections and repairs of catch basins, culverts, ditches and outflows; and offering incentives and education for watershed landowners to plant rain gardens, use rain barrels and keep roadside ditches and drains clear. Longer-term solutions include obtaining a full engineering report on stormwater system upgrades and raising funds to carry out projects that would slow or divert stormwater and reduce flood risk.

Column: New trail system in York County latest success of land trust

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 21, 2026

The South Peak of Bauneg Beg Mountain rises to an elevation of 866 feet in the northern  reaches of North Berwick. Much of the new trail system on Bauneg Beg’s South Peak was constructed by a cadre of dedicated volunteers, while the technical work was completed by the Maine Conservation Corps during the summer of 2025. Boardwalks, bridges, switchbacks, blazes, trail signs — they’re all in place to lead you through all the natural beauty in a sustainable way. Bauneg Beg Mountain Conservation Area South was officially opened to the public last autumn. ~ Carey Kish

Gubernatorial candidates at Wabanaki forum agree on tribal sovereignty

THE COUNTY • March 20, 2026

Gubernatorial candidates attending the first ever Wabanaki forum on Thursday in Houlton each said they support tribal sovereignty. About 150 people attended the over-two-hour session that explored candidate views on issues related to restoring access to federal laws for tribes, teaching Wabanaki studies in Maine schools, eminent domain over tribal lands, and sovereignty. During the question and answer forum, hosted by the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, Democratic and independent candidates agreed that tribal sovereignty is long overdue and already should have happened. Maine is the only state that does not recognize the tribes as sovereign nations. As a result, the tribes do not receive the federal money and benefits that the other 570 nations in other states receive.