BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 31, 2025
Four towns in western Hancock County say they are on a tight timeline to find a way to take over two dams built decades ago to supply the defunct Bucksport paper mill. The salvage company that bought the former mill is asking the state to let it abandon the dams, potentially releasing the water from them, using a 30-year-old Maine law that’s never been tested. Now, representatives from Blue Hill, Orland, Penobscot and Surry want to form two quasi-municipal agencies to take over ownership and maintenance of the aging, hazardous dams on Alamoosook Lake and Toddy Pond.