ASSOCIATED PRESS • July 11, 2021
Endangered Atlantic salmon in the Kennebec River can be protected without removing four hydroelectric dams, federal energy regulators say, leaving conservation groups stunned. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission reached the conclusion in a draft environmental assessment in the relicensing of one of four dams owned by the Canada-based Brookfield Renewables. The regulators said the fish can be protected and brought back to a population of at least 2,000, even if the Shawmut Dam in Benton injures or kills as many as 4 percent of them. That’s a lower bar than both conservationists and Maine’s Department of Marine Resources have called for. Conservation groups are stunned by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's conclusion in a draft environmental assessment in the relicensing one of four dams owned by Brookfield Renewables.