MAINE MONITOR • September 18, 2022
The paper industry has long had both a practical and symbolic hold on Maine politics despite its waning brick-and-mortar presence. But it hadn’t been a central talking point in this year’s governor’s race until the past week. Former Governor Paul LePage held a press conference to criticize the DEP’s pending denial of a key water quality certificate for the Shawmut Dam outside Waterville. The certificate is crucial for the dam to be relicensed at the federal level and is the subject of a multiyear battle between Gov. Janet Mills, environmental groups and the dam’s owner, Brookfield Renewable. LePage and the incumbent Mills quickly traded accusations, with the Mills campaign saying LePage was employing “scare tactics.” It shows the leverage Sappi, one of the few remaining paper mill operators in the state and a major player in the dwindling heritage industry, has over the politics of the dam’s renewal.