A Dam to Fall, Power Plant Foes, and More
Fort Halifax Dam's days are numbered, and neighbors are organizing to oppose a new coal gasification plant in Wiscasset.
August 30, 2007
Dam removals in Maine have been pretty generally praised - the demolition of Edwards Dam on the Kennebec in Augusta rejuvenated the entire river as far north as Waterville - but things got a little heated four years ago when FPL Energy agreed to remove the Fort Halifax Dam in Winslow. Residents of homes along the Sebasticook River deadwater above the dam organized to oppose the move, and one of them, Kenneth Fletcher, even ran for and was elected to the legislature with the stated purpose of sidetracking the plan. Didn't work. Maine's highest court ruled recently that the dam removal permit was legal, and FPL announced this week it would begin removing the dam next summer.
Looks like d`jA vu. Back when Wiscasset was the home of the Maine Yankee Atomic Power Station, the town frequently clashed with its neighboring communities over the plant's safety and sharing the tax money it paid. Now the residents in surrounding towns are organizing to oppose a proposed coal gasification power plant that would be built on the old Maine Yankee site. The $1.5-billion project would turn coal and wood biomass into synthetic gas that would power a 700-megawatt generator. Opponents worry that the plant will disturb neighbors with noise and emissions, and lobstermen fear coal barges would destroy traps. Wiscasset residents are voting on the necessary zoning changes in November.
Portland School Superintendent Mary Jo O'Connor fulfilled a lot of water-cooler prophecies when she announced her resignation this week. The embattled school leader had been the focus of criticism over the school system's $1.7-million deficit, which promises to force harsh and unpopular cuts in the coming school year.
Aroostook County has been waiting for decades for a new north-south highway connecting the St. John Valley with I-95 in Houlton. Looks like they'll have to wait a while longer. The Maine Department of Transportation now says work on a key bypass around the city of Presque Isle won't start until 2010 or 2011 at the earliest.
Governor John Baldacci is proposing that the state take over Maine's fifteen county jails. The idea isn't gathering a lot of early support among either legislators or county officials, especially as more details emerge about the proposal. The governor is promoting the idea was a way to lower property taxes - jail operations will cost about $71.2 million this year, funded by property taxpayers through their annual county assessment. Left unsaid is the impact a takeover would have on state-level taxes, such as the income or sales tax, since the money to run the jails will have to come from the state budget.
Dam removals in Maine have been pretty generally praised - the demolition of Edwards Dam on the Kennebec in Augusta rejuvenated the entire river as far north as Waterville - but things got a little heated four years ago when FPL Energy agreed to remove the Fort Halifax Dam in Winslow. Residents of homes along the Sebasticook River deadwater above the dam organized to oppose the move, and one of them, Kenneth Fletcher, even ran for and was elected to the legislature with the stated purpose of sidetracking the plan. Didn't work. Maine's highest court ruled recently that the dam removal permit was legal, and FPL announced this week it would begin removing the dam next summer.
Looks like d`jA vu. Back when Wiscasset was the home of the Maine Yankee Atomic Power Station, the town frequently clashed with its neighboring communities over the plant's safety and sharing the tax money it paid. Now the residents in surrounding towns are organizing to oppose a proposed coal gasification power plant that would be built on the old Maine Yankee site. The $1.5-billion project would turn coal and wood biomass into synthetic gas that would power a 700-megawatt generator. Opponents worry that the plant will disturb neighbors with noise and emissions, and lobstermen fear coal barges would destroy traps. Wiscasset residents are voting on the necessary zoning changes in November.
Portland School Superintendent Mary Jo O'Connor fulfilled a lot of water-cooler prophecies when she announced her resignation this week. The embattled school leader had been the focus of criticism over the school system's $1.7-million deficit, which promises to force harsh and unpopular cuts in the coming school year.
Aroostook County has been waiting for decades for a new north-south highway connecting the St. John Valley with I-95 in Houlton. Looks like they'll have to wait a while longer. The Maine Department of Transportation now says work on a key bypass around the city of Presque Isle won't start until 2010 or 2011 at the earliest.
Governor John Baldacci is proposing that the state take over Maine's fifteen county jails. The idea isn't gathering a lot of early support among either legislators or county officials, especially as more details emerge about the proposal. The governor is promoting the idea was a way to lower property taxes - jail operations will cost about $71.2 million this year, funded by property taxpayers through their annual county assessment. Left unsaid is the impact a takeover would have on state-level taxes, such as the income or sales tax, since the money to run the jails will have to come from the state budget.
- By: Jeff Clark
