By Jen Lynds, BDN Staff Bangor Daily News news story AUGUSTA, Maine — House lawmakers Thursday afternoon voted 109 to 36 to oppose a bill aimed at allowing large-scale metal mining in the state. The amended version of LD 750 sponsored by Rep. Ralph Chapman, D-Brooksville, was rejected after more than two hours of floor Read More
JD Irving
Maine House Delivers Major Blow to Rewritten Mining Rules
The long, heated debate over opening land to digging for metals is replayed again before the bill is rejected in a 109-36 vote. By Steve Mistler, Staff Writer Portland Press Herald news story AUGUSTA — A hotly debated bill that would rewrite Maine’s metal mining regulations was dealt a decisive setback Thursday in the House Read More
Maine House Votes 109-36 to Reject Weak Mining Bill, LD 750
Statement of Natural Resources Council of Maine Scientist Nick Bennett “This vote reflects Maine people’s strong concern about weak mining rules. This is a victory for clean water and all the Mainers who depend on it for their livelihoods. It’s also a victory for Maine taxpayers, who should never again have to spend their hard-earned Read More
Loose Mining Rules Endanger the Proven Job Creators for which Maine is Known
By Jeff McCabe and Jen Brophy, Special to the BDN Bangor Daily News op-ed Metal mining is a boom and bust industry with a long record of polluting the water and leaving taxpayers to pay the cleanup costs in Maine and elsewhere around the country. More than 40 years after the Callahan mine in Brooksville Read More
Metallic Mineral Mining Would Mean a Motherlode of Trouble for Maine
Our natural resources are too important to be turned over to J.D. Irving and its subsidiary. by Senator Cathy Breen Portland Press Herald op-ed Lawmakers are one step closer to allowing metallic mineral mining – one of the riskiest, most toxic and financially irresponsible industries in the world – to operate right here in Maine. Read More
Proposed Mining Rules Still Too Weak to Adequately Protect Watersheds, Taxpayers
Legislature must reject the rules again they still don’t address concerns leading to defeat last year. By Rep. Ralph Tucker & Rep. Jeffrey Pierce Kennebec Journal op-ed A mining statute to relax our laws and attract mining to Maine was rushed through the Maine Legislature in 2012. The Legislature last year rejected weak rules to Read More
Legislative Committee Passes Controversial Mining Bill
Advocates say Maine’s mining regulations are unduly restrictive while critics cite fears of pollution. By Kevin Miller, Staff Writer Portland Press Herald news story AUGUSTA — In a divided vote, a legislative committee has endorsed a controversial proposal to rewrite Maine’s mining regulations after a months-long debate focused largely on a potential mine at an Read More
Digging for Dollars: Proposed New Mining Rules Clear Committee
by Adrienne DiPiazza WABI-TV news story When many people think of mining in the state of Maine they remember environmental disasters of the past, before regulations were put in place. The initiative to bring mining back to Maine has not come without strong opposition from many lawmakers and environmental groups.. Thursday the Environmental and Natural Read More
Mining Rules for Maine: Weeks of Negotiations Fail to Forge Consensus
By Mal Leary Maine Public news story AUGUSTA, Maine – Maine Lawmakers have worked for weeks on an effort to overhaul the state’s mining regulations. But it was mostly opponents that showed up at an unusual second public hearing on the same legislation. And it appears that the committee is still divided on the issue, Read More