A group of legislators in Hancock County is working on a set of proposed bills that would enable municipalities in Maine to collectively acquire abandoned dams, along with providing clearer guidelines for this process.
The urgency for this legislation is amplified by the current situation involving AIM Development USA, the owner of the former Verso Paper Mill in Bucksport, which is in the process of relinquishing ownership of three dams in the local area. This situation is critical for the hundreds of residents living near the lakes and pond that these dams support.
Should the Maine Department of Environmental Protection permit AIM to proceed with the forfeiture, it could lead to the controlled draining of Toddy Pond, Silver Lake, and Alamoosook Lake, effectively transforming these aquatic bodies into dry mudflats. Such a scenario would cut off Bucksport’s primary drinking water source and threaten the operations of an adjacent gas-fired power facility.
Historically, Maine has never experienced a full dam forfeiture, and the poorly defined statute governing this situation has left residents and officials in Bucksport, Blue Hill, Orland, Surry, and Penobscot scrambling for solutions regarding potential ownership. The lack of clear communication from AIM about the dams’ conditions and maintenance requirements has further complicated the situation.
The state’s Dam Safety Program categorizes all three dams as “high hazard,” indicating that their failure poses a risk to human lives, and has assessed them to be in “unsatisfactory” condition.
According to Bucksport Town Manager Susan Lessard, the ambiguity from AIM is making it challenging for the towns to make informed decisions about the potential acquisition of the dams, as they lack sufficient information to plan for maintenance and operational expenses.
While Bucksport is interested in acquiring the Silver Lake dam, a collaborative committee made up of representatives from Orland, Penobscot, Surry, and Blue Hill is strategizing on how to share ownership of the other two dams.
These towns are actively engaging their communities by conducting surveys and organizing public hearings to discuss the forthcoming legislation. The hearings are set to take place at various locations, with Orland’s meeting at Alamoosook Lakeside Inn on February 5th, Surry holding theirs at Surry Elementary School gymnasium on February 10th, Blue Hill at the town hall auditorium on February 12th, and Penobscot at Penobscot Community School on February 13th, all scheduled from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
As per David Madore, Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection, AIM is currently in a compulsory 180-day consultation period, which began once the department accepted the company’s forfeiture request on October 18, 2024.
Bipartisan legislation introduced by Representative Nina Milliken (D-Blue Hill) on behalf of the DEP aims to grant towns additional time to evaluate the potential acquisition of forfeited dams while also mandating that dam owners provide more information regarding the dams’ conditions to both the department and prospective buyers.
Milliken underscored the critical necessity of maintaining these dams, stating that their removal would have devastating impacts on the communities, particularly for Hancock County. She expressed her environmentalist stance, acknowledging that while removing some dams can be beneficial, the loss of these specific dams would be akin to losing a significant natural resource, such as the Kennebec River.
The proposed legislation was developed after discussions between Milliken and other local legislators with DEP Commissioner Melanie Loyzim, addressing the current statute’s limitations. This bill builds on the foundation laid out by former state Representative Ron Russell (D-Verona Island), who sought to impose more regulations on dams, and it marks just the first of several that Milliken plans to propose.
In addition to the existing DEP bill, referred to as L.D. 62, Milliken is also focused on other legislative initiatives, which aim to allow quasi-municipal entities to take over abandoned dams, create a revolving loan fund for maintenance costs of vulnerable and high-risk dams, strengthen the existing Dam Safety Program, and address serious issues related to chronic underfunding, understaffing, and inadequate enforcement, as highlighted in recent studies and reports.
Throughout this effort, Milliken has collaborated with a bipartisan team of lawmakers, including Rep. Steven M. Bishop (R-Bucksport), Sen. Nicole Grohoski (D-Hancock), and Sen. David Haggan (R-Penobscot). The coalition has expressed a strong sense of urgency and is committed to a unified approach to this pressing issue.
If changes are not made to the dam forfeiture statute and AIM’s relinquishment proceeds, Milliken fears it could set a troubling precedent for other owners of deteriorating dams. This could put Maine communities, which depend on the lakes created by these dams for both property tax revenue and recreational opportunities, in a similar predicament as the towns in Hancock County.
She noted, “It seems logical that other companies owning such damaged dams might take this as a cue to abandon their responsibilities, potentially creating widespread issues across the state.”
