Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 15 S E P T E M B E R 5 , 2 0 1 6 M y interest in the just-completed 16-year Penobscot River Restoration Project — which I've writ- ten about several times during my time at Mainebiz, including the Aug. 22 story about Kleinschmidt Associates' work on the Howland Natural Fish Passage — is rooted in the broader question of how damaged ecosystems might be restored to health. at interest dates back to my grow- ing up years in Cleveland, a Rust Belt city encircled by the epitome of a dam- aged "industrial" river, the Cuyahoga — although at that time I never would have thought to make that distinction. I took it as a given that any river fl ow- ing through a city would serve indus- trial purposes — nothing to make a big deal about. e Cuyahoga fl ows through a low- lying neighborhood known as e Flats that was defi ned half a century ago by smoke-belching steel mills, mountains of slag, coal and limestone and huge freighters that somehow threaded their way along the winding river to and from the mills. By the time the river emptied into Lake Erie, it was rusty brown with an oily sheen from the vast quantities of black heavy oil fl oating in slicks that in some stretches were several inches deep. My environmental conscience was awakened when the Cuyahoga famously caught on fi re in June 1969, earning national attention and being described in Time magazine as a river that "oozes rather than fl ows." How could a river catch fi re, I wondered? Clearly, that shouldn't be. But I had no clue how the Cuyahoga could be restored to some semblance of a healthy river. So I ignored that question. A few years later, in 1976, I arrived in Maine naively thinking that in doing so I could escape the pollution and urban ugliness I had come to reject along with the place where I grew up. It was a fantasy, of course. at fi rst winter in Maine I worked as a construction laborer in Jay in a major expansion of what was then the International Paper Co. mill. I remem- ber feeling a vague guilt that through my labors I was an accomplice to the cabbage-like smell pervading the air and the cloudlike rafts of brown foam fl oating down Androscoggin River on its way to the sea. Of course, that didn't deter me from cashing my weekly paychecks at the local bank in nearby Livermore Falls or using paper without even thinking about its origins. anks to environmental leaders like Maine's U.S. Sen. Ed Muskie, who grew up in another Androscoggin River mill town, Rumford, the Clean Water Act (1972) he championed ushered in new environmental policies designed to protect human health by setting strong anti-pollution goals. e Androscoggin and Penobscot rivers are just two of the many Maine rivers that began a long, slow recovery more than 40 years ago as a result of Ed Muskie's leadership. Even now, 20 years after his death in 1996, you'll fi nd Muskie's advocacy for clean water and clean air referred to reveren- tially as the chief legacy of this former Maine governor, four-term senator and Secretary of State under President Jimmy Carter. But the work is far from over. at's why the newly completed $60 million Penobscot River Restoration Project is so important. It provides a model for balancing economic and environmental goals and begins to restore the under- standing that those two realms don't have to be mutually exclusive. In speaking about the completion of the Howland Dam Natural Fish Bypass with John Banks, the Penobscot Nation's director of natural resources, I was struck by his description of the river as a community. "Everything is connected out there," he said. at's an old wisdom, one worth coming back to. Maine lawyers working for Maine businesses. Por tland / Kennebunk • 207-775-7271 • 1-800-756-1166 • jbgh.com At Jensen Baird, our commitment is to you. Launching a new business in Maine calls for innovative legal strategies. At Jensen Baird we help emerging small businesses achieve their goals cost effectively. Let us help you find the right strategies for your business. Personal reflections on the Penobscot River Restoration Project I N S I D E T H E N OT E B O O K J M C , Mainebiz senior writer, can be reached at @ . and @ J M . The Androscoggin and The Androscoggin and The Androscoggin and The Androscoggin and The Androscoggin and The Androscoggin and The Androscoggin and The Androscoggin and The Androscoggin and The Androscoggin and The Androscoggin and The Androscoggin and The Androscoggin and The Androscoggin and Penobscot rivers are just Penobscot rivers are just Penobscot rivers are just Penobscot rivers are just Penobscot rivers are just Penobscot rivers are just Penobscot rivers are just Penobscot rivers are just Penobscot rivers are just Penobscot rivers are just Penobscot rivers are just Penobscot rivers are just Penobscot rivers are just two of the many Maine rivers that began a long, slow recovery more than 40 years ago as a result of Ed Muskie's leadership.

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