by Anne Ravana Maine Public Radio news story The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries Service today extended endangered species protections to Atlantic salmon in the Penobscot, Kennebec, and Androscoggin rivers and their watersheds. The news has not been well received by some Maine officials. The state’s Department of Read More
Edwards Dam and Kennebec Restoration
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
Fort Halifax Dam Breached
by Colin Hickey, staff writer Kennebec Journal news story WINSLOW — Closure came to the controversy surrounding Fort Halifax Dam on Thursday morning with a few blows from a hoe-ram. The demolition machine, essentially an excavator with a hydraulic hammer, began to breach a portion of the 100-year-old hydroelectric facility at about 10 a.m., as 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
Dam is Closer to Removal
by Amy Calder, staff writer Morning Sentinel news story WINSLOW – FPL Energy Hydro says it will move forward to remove the Fort Halifax Dam now that the Zoning Board of Appeals has unanimously denied an appeal that would have blocked the power company from removing the dam. Allen Wiley, vice president of FPL Energy Read More
Winslow Planning Board Approves Ft. Halifax Dam Breach
by Colin Hickey, staff writer Kennebec Journal news story WINSLOW — FPL Energy appears to have cleared the final hurdle to its plan to breach Fort Halifax Dam this summer. The Winslow Planning Board in an unanimous vote Monday night approved the energy company’s application to remove a portion of the 100-year-old hydroelectric facility on Read More
Dam Debate Continues Monday
Kennebec Journal news story WINSLOW — Fish take note: A dam may be opening soon near you. City planners on Monday evening may wrap up the remaining details in allowing FPL Energy to proceed with a plan to breach the Fort Halifax Dam, which the company owns. Six years of debates and research about the Read More
Winslow Panel Says Plan to Breach Sebasticook Dam is Complete
by Joel Elliott, staff writer Kennebec Journal news story WINSLOW — Plans to breach the Fort Halifax Dam inched forward this week when the Winslow Planning Board deemed the owner’s proposal to be complete. The town has opposed breaching the dam since the matter came up five years ago, and the owner’s application has been 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
