by Susan Sharon Maine Public Radio news story For centuries, dams that harnessed water power fueled factories around the Northeast. But the walled barriers prevented migrating fish from reaching their native spawning grounds. Water quality and entire ecosystems changed. Think about a dam on a river you know. Imagine what would happen if that structure Read More
Edwards Dam
Millions of Fish Return to Maine River
The Kennebec River has been surging with life this spring as millions of alewives (river herring) travel inland from the sea to reach spawning habitat that was inaccessible before two key dams were removed in 1999 and 2008. Osprey and Bald Eagles have been well fed, and the entire river ecosystem has benefited, as a Read More
NRCM Gives Award to Law Firms in Portland, D.C. for River Restoration Efforts
Augusta, ME – Two law firms, Verrill Dana in Portland, Maine, and Wiley Rein in Washington, D.C., have been awarded a 2008 Natural Resources Council of Maine Environmental Award for their tireless efforts to free the Sebasticook River by removing the Fort Halifax Dam in Winslow. For about 100 years, the Fort Halifax Dam at Read More
Fort Halifax Dam Removed to Open Fish Passage in Sebasticook
On July 17, 2008, after more than 5 years of legal battles, FPL Energy Maine Hydro breached the Fort Halifax Dam in Winslow. Finally, this section of the river will flow freely again and native sea-run fish – striped bass, salmon, sturgeon, and shad – will be able to return to waters they have not seen Read More
Revitalized River Flows to Healthy Future
by Larry Grard, staff writer Kennebec Journal news story There was a time within many people’s lifetimes when almost no one would have fished the confluence of the Kennebec and Sebasticook rivers in Winslow. Tanneries, factories and mills dumped municipal sewage into the Kennebec and its tributaries, fouling the waters as they flowed through Augusta Read More
The Long View on Kennebec Hydropower and Fish Restoration
by Dick Anderson Kennebec Journal op-ed For the past five years, this editorial page has hosted a debate over the future of the Fort Halifax dam. The dam’s owner, FPL Energy, proposed removal in 2002. In filings with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), FPL reported that even without fish passage costs, the dam lost Read More
Battle of Fort Halifax Drawing to a Close?
Kennebec Journal editorial The end may finally be in sight for the long-running conflicts over the Fort Halifax Dam on the Sebasticook in Winslow. The dam is an integral part of the state and federal government’s plan to restore native, migratory fish such as alewives, shad, sturgeon and atlantic salmon to the upper reaches of Read More
Company Seeks Approval to Buy Fort Halifax Dam
Deal Would Keep Dam, Build Fish Passage By Craig Crosby, Staff Writer Kennebec Journal news story WINSLOW — A Boston company is primed to purchase Fort Halifax Dam with the intention of saving it from destruction. Essex Hydro Associates has reached a deal in principle to purchase the dam from FPL Energy, said Barry Flynn, vice Read More
Maine’s Newest River
by Jeff Clark Down East magazine August 2004 Five years after the demolition of Edwards Dam, the Kennebec has rebounded. Five years ago the Edwards Dam disappeared from the Kennebec River in Augusta. Today, no one misses it. Jim Thibodeau doesn’t miss it. The removal of Edwards Dam drained seventeen miles of dead-water impoundment below Read More
