By Bonnie Washuk, Staff Writer Lewiston Sun Journal news story AUBURN – As public hearings begin today about how much pollution should be allowed in the Androscoggin, environmentalists say that new and proposed limits wouldn’t improve the river because they’re not much different than what the mills are already discharging. At the opposite side is Read More
paper mills
NRCM Responds to Decision on Lawsuit
Effort to Clean Up the Androscoggin River Will Continue NRCM News Release The Natural Resources Council of Maine today expressed disappointment in yesterday’s court decision to dismiss, on administrative technicalities, NRCM’s lawsuit against International Paper. NRCM said that it would not give up on its efforts to compel International Paper to reduce its pollution of Read More
Clean-water Activists Take Aim at Androscoggin
Some blame state for mills’ pollution By Beth Daley, Globe Staff Boston Globe news story LEWISTON, Maine — The Androscoggin River that served as the putrid inspiration for the federal Clean Water Act three decades ago has long been cursed with a bitter irony: It has never met the minimum standards of that law. Now, Read More
State Debates New IP Rules
by Kathryn Skelton, Staff Writer Lewiston Sun Journal AUGUSTA – Saying he couldn’t understand how the former commissioner approved such lenient pollution rules for International Paper, DEP Commissioner David Littell said Thursday that science ought to determine how much phosphorous IP dumps into the Androscoggin River. “We’re asking for an opportunity to have a fresh Read More
On the Androscoggin, DEP Should Start Over
Editorial Portland Press Herald When a state agency admits it got something as important as a pollution discharge permit wrong, it should go back and make it right. So it is with the Department of Environmental Protection, which no longer supports a permit it issued for an International Paper mill on the Androscoggin River. The Read More
Document Confusion
Bangor Daily News editorial Because they thought it was OK to work with a paper company in secret to develop new water quality standards, some staff members at the Department of Environmental Protection will soon undergo training in adhering to the state’s public records law. Their session can be short and simple. Documents created by, Read More
DEP Violated Records Law in Paper Mill Permit Case
Editorial Portland Press Herald editorial Attorney General Steven Rowe was obliged to find that the Department of Environmental Protection broke the law by allowing a paper company to retain all records of a side agreement to a pollution permit. There is no question the DEP was conducting governmental business. There is no exception in the Read More
DEP Found in Violation of State Law
AG: Documents withheld in Androscoggin cleanup Bangor Daily News news story An investigation by Maine Attorney General Steven Rowe’s office has found that Department of Environmental Protection staffers violated the state’s public records law by not making available documents from private meetings with paper company officials. In response, Gov. John Baldacci announced Friday that workers Read More
DEP Chief Resigns
By Bonnie Washuk, staff writer Lewiston Sun Journal news story AUGUSTA – Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Dawn Gallagher resigned Thursday amid questions about how the department is run. The announcement was made by Gov. John Baldacci, who praised Gallagher as a valuable public servant but said he wanted a change. “Commissioner Gallagher, who has Read More
