To the editor:
Three years ago Rep. John Martin (D-Eagle Lake) introduced, at the behest of Canadian billionaire, J.D. Irving, a bill to rewrite and weaken Maine’s strong 1991 mining rules. The change was necessary because Irving had plans to operate an open-pit mine at Bald Mountain, and the rules in place, although protective of the pristine environment, could limit Irving’s corporate profits.
The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), along with Irving’s lobbyists and mining industry experts rewrote the rules to better accommodate Irving’s plans. The public weighed in with vociferous opposition; hearing rooms were packed with citizens worried about the potential disaster of mining in this area of high arsenic and sulfide levels. The Board of Environmental Protection (BEP), in a stunning abrogation of its obligation to represent the public interest, actually further weakened environmental protections. The legislature rightly rejected that bill in 2013.
John Martin won reelection in 2014, and submitted the rejected bill again – same wording, same deficiencies, same lobbyists at work. Next, the Environmental and Natural Resources Committee (ENR) tacked these diluted regulations on to a reasonable bill, LD 750 sponsored by Ralph Chapman, (D-Brookville). Recently the ENR voted for LD 750, basically the same bill, with a few cosmetic changes and minor tweaks, that does not alter the potential for years of environmental damage.
LD 750:
• allows for mining near and under almost all of Maine’s lakes, rivers and streams;
• does not protect Maine taxpayers from having to pay for mine disasters;
• allows tailings impoundments, the most dangerous type of mine waste disposal; and
• gives the DEP enormous discretion to complete the rules without further legislative oversight or public input.
These weak mining rules would endanger the existing local economics; agriculture, forestry, recreation and tourism. We should invest in these established economic sectors and not be swayed by grandiose promises of “700” jobs in the Portage Lake area. We have heard this story before, when the “suits” from away, came to town, offering get rich quick schemes that came to nothing but disappointment and cost to the taxpayer: the sugar beet fiasco a few years back, and just recently the Cate Street Capital and New Markets Tax Credits Program, for which Mainers will be obligated to pay the corporate swindlers $16 million in the next few years. And after 40 years, we are still paying for the toxic mess that was the Callahan mine in Brooksville. When will we ever learn?
Despite the overwhelming opposition from Maine citizens to the weakened mining rules, the ENR Committee chose to side with the paid spokesmen for foreign, corporate interests. This blatant disregard for citizen concern only erodes confidence in government. Our legislative processes have been hijacked by private money and the political influence it can buy.
It’s not too late. LD 750 will have a debate and vote in both the House and Senate. Contact your legislators and tell them to reject these weak rules that do not protect the Aroostook County we love.
Stan and Gail Maynard
Woodland
