Penobscot Nation and Conservation Law Foundation appeal to stop Juniper Ridge Landfill expansion

MAINE PUBLIC • November 13, 2024

The Penobscot Nation and Conservation Law Foundation have filed an appeal in Superior Court to stop the expansion of the Juniper Ridge Landfill in Old Town. In October the state concluded that the expansion was in the public's interest and set several conditions that Casella Waste Management must meet to move forward with the project. Alexandra St. Pierre of the Conservation Law Foundation said the expansion runs contrary to the state's waste management goals, which prioritize reduction of waste volume and using landfills.

Make sure this invasive plant isn’t hiding in your holiday wreaths

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • November 13, 2024

If you make or buy local wreaths this season, watch out for a vine plant with bright red berries. It may be Asiatic bittersweet, which is classified as severely invasive in Maine and can spread through holiday decorations. They look striking, but turning them into decorations can invite the quick-spreading, hard-to-remove plant to quickly take over your yard and strangle your trees to death. It’s also illegal to sell the vines in Maine or bring them into the state.

Opinion: Old Town landfill expansion violates environmental justice rule, lawsuit says

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • November 13, 2024

A landfill in Old Town should not be allowed to expand because a Maine agency did not properly consider environmental justice during the approval, a lawsuit says. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, alleges the landfill expansion puts people’s health at risk and threatens the cultural practices of the Penobscot Nation. It is the first test of a 2021 state law that says all people have the right to be protected from pollution and “to live in and enjoy a clean and healthful environment.” Penobscot Nation and the Conservation Law Foundation are also concerned there is nothing in the plan to address the PFAS in water that exceeds the levels the state deems safe.

Nordic Heritage Outdoor Center in Presque Isle to close by December

MAINE PUBLIC • November 13, 2024

After 25 years, the Nordic Outdoor Heritage Center in Presque Isle said it's closing by the end of the month. The venue has miles of trails for cross country skiing, mountain biking, and hiking, as well as a disc-golf course. The Center has also hosted the Biathlon World Cup. It's owned by the Libra Foundation and Pineland Farms, and operated by the Presque Isle Recreation and Parks department, where Andrew Perry is deputy director. Perry said although the center is beloved by the community, it's difficult to maintain.

How popcorn could help save the bees

ENVIRONMENT MAINE • November 13, 2024

Bees are nature’s most effective pollinators. Because of their hard work buzzing from flower to flower, they are responsible for about one third of the entire globe’s food production. Neonic pesticides are supposed to protect crops, but what they actually do is kill agriculture’s best animal allies. To protect bees from these toxic pesticides, we need some of our biggest corn buyers, including popcorn makers, to step up. That’s why we’re calling on Orville Redenbacher to commit to buying popcorn from farmers who don’t use neonic-covered seeds. 

Opinion: With federal support, conservationists and timber companies find common ground

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • November 13, 2024

Here in Maine, land owners and conservation organizations have found common ground when it comes to our state’s greatest natural assets. Protecting the health of Maine’s forests and the waterways that keep them thriving is something both of our organizations can get behind. For The Nature Conservancy, it’s because healthy forests are vital for people and the planet. For Baskahegan, it’s because thriving forests mean jobs and growing local economies. For both of us, addressing the outdated dams and undersized culverts on forest roads that block passage of native fish like Atlantic salmon and brook trout is a top priority. Nearly $25 million in federal funding is coming to Maine to support private landowners who want to make these improvements to road-stream crossings on their property. ~ Eileen Bader Hall, The Nature Conservancy in Maine; Kyle Burdick, Baskahegan Co.

Penobscot Nation, conservation group file appeal to stop Juniper Ridge Landfill expansion

MAINE MORNING STAR • November 13, 2024

The Penobscot Nation and Boston-based environmental organization Conservation Law Foundation filed an appeal on Tuesday to stop the expansion of the Juniper Ridge Landfill. The suit comes a little more than a month after the Maine Department of Environmental Protection issued a ruling that opened the door for the site to increase its capacity, despite continued objections from local residents and advocates that doing so could worsen environmental hazards. “Challenging this decision is not just about protecting our environment,” Alexandra St. Pierre, director of communities and toxics at CLF, wrote Wednesday.

Southern Maine experiencing very high fire danger

MAINE PUBLIC • November 13, 2024

The Maine Forest Service said the southern half of the state is experiencing very high fire danger, from the western mountains to Bangor to islands just south of Bar Harbor. Crews from Wales battled a brush fire near the Oak Hill High School on Wednesday. Wildfires fueled by dry conditions and wind also broke out Tuesday in Hollis, Sanford, Bath and Damariscotta. The state said the northern part of Maine is experiencing high fire danger.

Federal money fuels Maine’s clean energy and climate goals. Could Trump pull the plug?

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • November 13, 2024

A lot may be on the line for Maine’s energy policy in a second Trump presidency. From federal money supporting electric heat pumps and electric vehicles to expanding a network of chargers and building a wind port on Penobscot Bay, the state looks to Washington for millions of dollars to advance its clean energy and climate goals. Starting in January, the federal government’s executive branch, which controls billions of dollars in energy funding, will be headed by President-elect Donald Trump, who favors fossil fuels over zero-carbon energy he calls a “green new scam.” The greatest threat from the Trump administration to Maine’s energy and climate policies could be to its offshore wind initiatives.

Northern Forest Center housing project to proceed

PISCATAQUIS OBSERVER • November 12, 2024

The Northern Forest Center purchased five acres of land in downtown Greenville off Spruce Street and plans to build housing to serve the local workforce. The housing project plan seeks to develop 29 units of new housing that incorporate a mix of multi-family buildings, duplexes, and single-family homes to be built over three years.The Northern Forest Center Center hopes to use the project to demonstrate the environmental and economic benefits of utilizing mass timber construction. 

$4,000 reward offered for information about illegal deer killings on Mount Desert Island

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • November 12, 2024

The Maine Warden Service is offering a reward up to $4,000 for information about two deer that were illegally shot at night on Mount Desert Island. The first deer was killed late on the night of Oct. 5 or early in the morning of Oct. 6 in the town of Mount Desert, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife said in a statement Tuesday night. The buck was left to rot and was discovered by a local resident. The second deer, also a buck, was shot during the early morning hours of Nov. 6 in the town of Tremont, which also is on MDI. The head was cut from that animal and the remainder was left to rot, the department said. Hunting is prohibited on the island that is home to Acadia National Park and night hunting is illegal across the state.

Concerns remain over proposed development in Portland’s Bayside neighborhood

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • November 12, 2024

At the Planning Board's second workshop on the project, which would combine housing-first, affordable and market-rate apartments concerns remained over the location of the project in Bayside neighborhood and the lack of green space it would bring to the neighborhood.

Commission urges Maine to prepare for next round of severe winter storms

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • November 12, 2024

The December 2023 and January 2024 storms caused an estimated $90 million in damage to Maine’s public infrastructure, plus millions more in private property losses. On Tuesday members of the Maine Infrastructure Rebuilding and Resilience Commission released a report on how the state can prepare for more extreme weather events and be ready to recover and rebuild.

Bates College students rally to organize opposition to Trump

SUN JOURNAL • November 12, 2024

About 80 Bates College students rallied Tuesday to protest President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda and begin organizing opposition to its implementation. Some also criticized Bates College for failing to divest fossil fuel companies from its portfolio and not doing enough in the wake of the election for students who fear what Trump policies might mean for them.

Earth’s biggest polluters aren’t sending leaders to UN climate talks

ASSOCIATED PRESS • November 12, 2024

World leaders are converging Tuesday at the United Nations annual climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan although the big names and powerful countries are noticeably absent. But 2024’s COP29 climate talks are lacking the top leaders of the 13 largest carbon dioxide-polluting countries. Their nations are responsible for more than 70% of 2023’s heat-trapping gases.

Task force issues recommendations for helping Maine dairy farmers

MAINE PUBLIC • November 12, 2024

A state task force to support Maine's commercial dairy farms is recommending that the Dairy Tier Program be fully funded. The program offers supplemental payments to farmers when the price of milk falls below the cost of production. The task force suggests that it may be necessary to find new revenue streams for funding and increase the annual baseline. Other recommendations include increasing on-farm technical support and increasing milk processing capacity in Maine. The deadline for submitting feedback on the recommendations is Friday, Nov. 22, and the task force will submit its final report in January.

Maine Audubon says stickers are preventing birds from striking notorious Portland building

MAINE PUBLIC • November 12, 2024

Striking buildings is one of the leading causes of bird mortality in the U.S., killing nearly a billion birds every year. But recent modifications to the deadliest building for birds in Portland shows injuries and fatalities can be avoided. Volunteers for Maine Audubon regularly found large numbers of dead birds around MEMIC's building on Commercial Street during annual surveys, according to outreach manager Nick Lund. In some years, more than 30 killed or injured birds were found near the six-story building, Lund said. But exterior decals installed on three stories of windows have reversed that trend and saved lives. "We found during our fall surveys, zero dead birds back there which is a complete validation of the time and effort it took MEMIC to put those up, and a real proof of concept for bird safe window technologies," Lund said.

Column: The night of the old white men

MAINE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS • November 6, 2024

In the near term, climate is the most important issue for all the world. Trump will likely pull out of the Paris Agreement once again, but that will have a limited effect on other countries. He has promised to “drill, baby, drill,” but you can’t sell more oil than people are willing to buy and the world demand for oil is going into decline. Moreover, the U.S. has not built a new coal-fired power plant in over a decade because coal is simply not competitive with solar and wind energy. He will try to repeal the massive Inflation Reduction Act, Joe Biden’s big anti-global warming initiative. ~ Gwynne Dyer

Brunswick group organizing to do widespread PFAS screening in wake of toxic foam spill

TIMES RECORD • November 11, 2024

In the wake of the worst toxic firefighting foam spill in Maine’s history, a renters organization is working to better inform the public and widely test for toxic forever chemicals in Brunswick Landing. The Brunswick Renters Organization is compiling requests for a bulk order of home test kits for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — better known as PFAS or “forever chemicals.” The aim, it said, is to create a database of contamination levels around the former Brunswick Naval Air Station while raising awareness about the long-running history of military contamination.