Androscoggin River should be recognized for cleanup efforts
Androscoggin River, once a ‘national disgrace’, should be recognized for cleanup efforts, advocates say
Joe Charpentier
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection is considering upgrading the classification of key stretches of the river, including through Lewiston-Auburn, from the current lowest-quality designation. Such a move would reflect years of improvement to a river that was once emblematic of industrial contamination.
Advocates for the redesignation say such official recognition of the river’s recovery would contribute to the region’s economy, bringing visitors and business investment to the area.
YEARS OF ADVOCACY
The push to reclassify the river’s water quality from Class C to Class B comes as the Department of Environmental Protection seeks public input as part of a three-year review process. It will consider that input this summer.
The state uses a classification system from Class D to Class AA to set water quality levels, and to establish designated uses for the river.Class AA waters require the highest protection; Class A waters are suitable for drinking after treatment, fishing, recreation and industrial use; Class B waters protect habitat for fish and other aquatic life, and are suitable for recreation, navigation and agricultural/industrial use; Class C waters are considered suitable for navigation, industrial processes and cooling water supply.
Hope for reclassification of the Androscoggin’s Class C sections rests in part on a milestone achieved in 2022. The Maine Legislature, in a unanimous vote, reclassified a 14-mile stretch of the river from the Worumbo Dam in Lisbon Falls to Merrymeeting Bay, where the Androscoggin and Kennebec rivers meet.
The decision was based on extensive data showing water quality in the river consistently met or exceeded Class B standards, particularly in terms of aquatic life support and dissolved oxygen levels.
The Friends of Merrymeeting Bay was one of the groups that pushed for decades for the 2022 classification. The group stressed the improved conditions of the river and the need for its classification to reflect these advancements.
The upgrade also emphasized Maine’s commitment to the anti-degradation policy, which ensures that water bodies that meet higher standards are recognized and protected.
Two proposals submitted for DEP review urge lawmakers to extend the Class B designation upstream.
One from Grow L+A, a Lewiston-Auburn nonprofit, targets a 14-mile stretch of the Androscoggin River from the base of Gulf Island Pond, located about 4 miles north of Great Falls, to the Worumbo Dam in Lisbon Falls. A second proposal from the Androscoggin River Watershed Council would extend the B classification from the Worumbo Dam all the way to Ellis River near Rumford.
Both proposals cite long-term water-quality monitoring data showing these sections of the river exceed Class B standards and have for several years.
Peter Rubins, board member for Grow L+A, has been a steward of the river for 50 years. He said his own view of the Androscoggin has changed dramatically since the 1970s.
“It was a disgusting mess. It stank. It was covered with foam. The banks were slimy,” Rubins said.
Now, he sees “something that’s aesthetically pleasing, that’s alive, that’s full of birds, fish, paddlers, rowers, people fishing.”
“It’s an entirely different experience,” he said.
Rubins hopes the proposal will be understood as a data-driven acknowledgment of progress reflecting “just the science.” If the science says the river is clean, then it should be classified as clean, he said.
Grow L+A’s proposal cites national case studies where waterfront investment and rising property values resulted from river cleanups and reclassifications. Redesignating the Androscoggin River as cleaner, swimmable and fishable could help attract residents, visitors and business investment, the nonprofit’s leaders said.
VISION FOR FUTURE
The future of Lewiston-Auburn’s Great Falls is a central part of Grow L+A’s vision, which is why the nonprofit and city officials are urging Brookfield Renewable, the operator of the hydroelectric dam above the falls, to include 40 annual timed water releases in its new federal license. The releases would ensure a regular flow over the falls independent from natural high-water events or spillway use.
Advocates believe Great Falls, as a destination waterfall, could anchor broader riverfront development including walking trails, signs and an expanded downtown arts and tourism economy.
Farther upstream, Fergus Lea of Androscoggin Valley Watershed Council said his organization’s proposal was “generally submitted to start the conversation in the triennial review process with DEP and others.”
“I believe some will oppose the change in the Class B standard, but given the DEP and AVWC proposals, there will probably be a serious discussion on the change in the standard and the upgrading of the Androscoggin,” Lea said.
Reclassifying them as Class C instead of applying pressure for them to meet the Class B designation, he said, “would technically allow degradation by new discharges or significant increases in existing wastewater loads.”
Lea said the Androscoggin River’s health is strong.
“It is difficult to describe how good the river is,” Lea said. “We believe it rivals that of most major rivers in Maine and New England, and is far better than many rivers nationwide.”