MAINE PUBLIC • August 26, 2021
Gov. Janet Mills is vowing to protect a Sappi paper mill on the Kennebec River, and the 700-plus jobs it provides, while also seeking protections for endangered Atlantic salmon at a nearby dam that the mill relies on for water. The owners of four hydroelectric dams on the river, Brookfield Renewables, is embroiled in a fight over how to improve the salmon's ability to get to prime upstream spawning grounds. The dispute has drawn in conservationists, waterfront municipalities and businesses, lawmakers and the Skowhegan mill, which takes its water from an impoundment just upstream of the hundred-year-old Shawmut dam. In a letter published in the Morning Sentinel, Mills condemned Brookfield for "far-mongering" on the issue. She says she will not allow the mill to close, and that protecting jobs and the salmon can go hand in hand.