FACTS AND ISSUES

● We are a group of ordinary, concerned citizens who want the best for our communities. The Androscoggin River has never met state or federal standards for clean water, and it still doesn’t today. Although the river is much cleaner than it used to be, it is still plagued by environmental problems.
● The Androscoggin’s pulp mills are by far the largest polluters of the river. According to the state Department of Environmental Protection, they account for 83% of the oxygen-depleting pollution entering Gulf Island Pond. Municipal discharges account for only 2% by comparison, while non-point sources account for only 15%.
● Cleaning up doesn’t mean closing down. DEP commissioned a report from a world-renowned paper industry expert to look at how much it would cost to clean up the Androscoggin River. He said the standards that the Androscoggin mills are violating could be achieved in an affordable manner that would result in more efficient, more competitive mills on the Androscoggin. The technologies that would make these mills cleaner would save them millions of dollars per year in manufacturing costs.
● Enormous investments have been made in waterfront development and recreational businesses on the Androscoggin. The future value of these investments depends on continued improvement in the Androscoggin’s water quality.
● There will need to be investment in the mills to clean up their pollution – the kind of investment that the mill owners have made in their operations in other states. The systems that would cut mill pollution represent a major capital investment for existing mills, but also allow significant operating costs savings when compared to traditional mills. The state’s consultant who studied the Androscoggin Mills’ operations said “There are many technologies and operating practices that have been in use for some time in profitable, operating mills which can potentially be used to reduce the discharges of pollutants that affect the Androscoggin River.”

FACTS:

● The Androscoggin has never met state or federal standards for clean water, and it still doesn’t today. Although the river is much cleaner than it used to be, it is still plagued by environmental problems. It still smells like a paper mill, is too dirty for trout and salmon to thrive, and has large algae blooms that make parts of the river impossible to swim in. In the 1960s, it was ranked as one of the ten most polluted rivers in the nation. Currently, each summer, low dissolved oxygen concentrations in the river’s most polluted section, Gulf Island Pond, are considered to be limiting populations of indigenous species of fish, the presence of which is a key requirement for meeting Maine’s water quality standards.
● For years, the paper companies on the river have sought exemptions from environmental laws and standards to avoid making fundamental changes in their processes that would clean up the river. In the 1980’s, the legislature bowed to the will of the industries and exempted Gulf Island Pond, the 14-mile long slow moving stretch of water between Lewiston/Auburn and Turner, from all water quality standards. However, the US Environmental Protection Agency rejected this move as a violation of federal law.
● Until 2005, all rivers in the state of Maine were treated equally. Now, as a result of legislation passed at the urging of the pulp and paper industry, the Androscoggin and the St. Croix will be held to a lower standard than any other rivers, to allow the mills on those two rivers to pollute excessively.
● The Androscoggin’s pulp mills are by far the largest polluters of the river. According to the state Department of Environmental Protection, they account for 83% of the oxygen-depleting pollution entering Gulf Island Pond. Municipal discharges account for only 2% by comparison, while non-point sources account for only 15%. The mills also account for 77% of the phosphorus pollution to the pond, while municipal discharges account for 13%, non-point sources for only 10%. Phosphorus is a nutrient pollution that causes algae blooms and depletes oxygen.
● DEP commissioned a report from a world-renowned paper industry expert to look at how much it would cost to clean up the Androscoggin River. He said the standards that the Androscoggin mills are violating could be achieved in an affordable manner that would result in more efficient, more competitive mills on the Androscoggin. The technologies that would make these mills cleaner would also save them millions of dollars per year in manufacturing costs.
● Kraft mills such as those on the Androscoggin use and discharge enormous quantities of wastewater every day. Water is used in the mills for a variety of purposes, including cooling industrial machinery, generating steam, and as the medium for bleaching pulp. Reducing this water use and limiting pollutant discharge through low-effluent or “closed-loop” systems is a critical part of developing minimum impact mills, mills that cause the least amount of damage possible to the environment. Effluents from the pulping and bleaching processes at kraft mills is a soup of toxic components that contains dioxins and furans, other compounds that cause endocrine disruption in fish, material that depletes oxygen levels in our rivers, and chemicals that cause foul odors, water discoloration, and unsightly foam.
● Much or even all of this pollution is unnecessary. Technologies, called “low-effluent”, “low-flow”, or “closed-loop” systems are available that can drastically reduce or even eliminate the discharge of polluted wastewater from kraft mills, and Maine mills have promised to eliminate their pollution of Maine’s waters. The kraft mills publicly stated the following in the late 1990s: “We share a long-term vision – consistent with the terms of the Federal Clean Water Act and State statutes – of eliminating the discharge of pollutants… to Maine’s Waters.” Unfortunately, none of Maine’s mills is currently on track to do this.
● Enormous investments have been made in waterfront development and recreational businesses on the Androscoggin. The future value of these investments, and any future ones, depends on water quality in the Androscoggin continuing to improve.

ISSUES:

● Paper mills claim that cleaning up pollution from the Androscoggin’s mills will be so costly the mills will have to shut down, and jobs will be lost: There will need to be investment in the mills to clean up their pollution – the kind of investment that the mill owners have made in their operations in other states. Low effluent systems represent a capital investment for existing mills, but also allow significant operating costs savings when compared to traditional mills. The state’s consultant who studied the Androscoggin Mills’ operations said “There are many technologies and operating practices that have been in use for some time in profitable, operating mills which can potentially be used to reduce the discharges of pollutants that affect the Androscoggin River….Mills such as Glatfelter in Spring Grove, PA, and several mills in Finland, that consistently exceed the industry average return in capital invested make extensive use of most of the technologies….useful for reducing phosphorus and BOD discharges, demonstrating that they are not unrealistic economically. These mills rely on a combination of appropriate manufacturing processes and effluent treatment to achieve low discharges cost effectively.”

Despite the compelling economic and environmental arguments for installing low-effluent technologies at Maine’s kraft mills, the paper industry is underinvesting in the state’s facilities. Jaakko Poyry, a leading paper industry consultant, stated in a study of Maine’s paper industry that: “The fundamental factors in the Maine investment environment, such as the quality and long-term availability of wood raw material are favorable for development of high value added pulp and paper production in the coming decades… In spite of this, it is apparent that the current industry in Maine is at a relative disadvantage in many respects, primarily as a result of low capital expenditure within the State.” This report further shows that by 1993, investments in Maine were 60% lower than the average U.S. level. By contrast, investments were only 8% lower than the national average in 1989 . It is simply unrealistic to think that Maine’s pulp and paper industry will be able to stay competitive over the long term with such low levels of investments.

● The mills claim that there are lots of fish in Gulf Island Pond – just ask your bass fishing friends! So why do we need to clean the river up any further? Because any river in Maine is diminished if it cannot support the native species that survived there for millennia. Certainly, bass, brown trout and other introduced fishes provide important recreational fisheries in many parts of Maine. Yet recreational fishermen all over the state have enjoyed fishing for native trout and salmon for generations – and right now, significant portions of the Androscoggin can’t support those native species. Maine’s water quality standards require that all our rivers, including the Androscoggin, support the growth and survival of native fish species such as trout and salmon. Many of our rivers, both great and small continue to support these species; the communities those rivers flow through enjoy the economic benefits that accrue from the presence of those fishermen.

● Mills claim that the real reason Gulf Island Pond is so polluted is because of the Gulf Island Dam. If the dam wasn’t there, the pollution wouldn’t be there. Fair enough. But if you took out the dam, the pollution wouldn’t go away, it would simply move downriver to the next dam in Lewiston and Auburn (Deer Rips dam). More importantly, the river does not meet clean water standards for aquatic life upstream of Gulf Island Pond. This has absolutely nothing to do with Gulf Island Dam and everything to do with pulp and paper mill pollution.

● Some municipalities on the river have claimed that cleaning up the river will mean costly upgrades for municipal treatments plants, and it will prevent Livermore from using the full capacity that they just built: This is untrue. DEP has said that cleaning up the river will mean all municipal treatment plants, including Livermore, can use their full capacity and still attain state water quality standards. The Lewiston/Auburn treatment plant will not have to make any changes. They meet water quality standards now just fine, and discharge to a section of the river below Lewiston that does not have the same sorts of problems as upstream.

And, finally…..The paper industry claims that the problem in the Androscoggin isn’t the pulp and paper mills, it’s sewage overflows that happen during large rainstorms. This isn’t true. The large rainstorms that cause large overflows don’t usually occur at times when the river is low and the water temperature is warm (July and August), but it’s at these times when the water quality is the worst. The pollution that’s causing the problem is from the mills. In addition, Maine towns have either fixed their sewage overflow problems or are being required to do so, at significant expense . The mills need to be held to the same standard.