Paper mills had objected to the measure.
AUGUSTA – After hearing warnings from paper company-employed legislators that supporting a measure could mean a loss of jobs, the House voted 98-44 Wednesday against a higher water quality standard that the Lewiston delegation was asking for.

The House instead voted for a water quality standard favored by the paper mills, and one that the Maine Department of Environmental Protection said it could live with. The version that was passed will not harm the Androscoggin River, but won’t go as far in improving the river, according to the DEP.

At issue was a bill that Rep. Elaine Makas, D-Lewiston, and the delegation was pushing for that would mean higher levels of oxygen in the river. More oxygen would mean cleaner water that would be good for fish, and good for the cities of Lewiston-Auburn that have invested millions in their downtowns, Makas said.

“Yes, it may cost some money to make changes for clearer water for the Androscoggin, but it is not the millions some have claimed,” Makas said. The costs to the mills would be small compared to the advantages, she said. Paper mills would have five years to meet the new law, and if they couldn’t, adjustments could be made. Saying it “would put people out of work is not a fact,” Makas said.

Rep. William Walcott, D-Lewiston, said not passing the higher standard would be continuing a “long, sad history” of treating Lewiston-Auburn “as second class.” While the Androscoggin is much cleaner than it used to be, the river “has never met state and federal (pollution) standards, and still doesn’t today. … Sometimes it still smells like a paper mill,” and there are “massive algae blooms,” Walcott said.

The Androscoggin is a focal point for community events and economic development and deserves to be cleaner, he said. While some blame the river pollution on municipal treatment plants, only 2 percent comes from those plants and the mills upriver account for 83 percent, Walcott said, urging House members to support the higher standards.

But others warned that passage of the stricter standard would be a burden to paper companies struggling to stay alive, and that it could mean a loss of jobs. Those included Rep. Tom Saviello, D-Wilton; Rep. Raymond Pineau, D-Jay, an employee of International Paper; Rep. Randy Hotham, R-Dixfield, an employee of MeadWestvaco; and Rep. John Patrick, D-Rumford, another MeadWestvaco employee.

If what the Lewiston delegation wanted passed, mills would have to make improvements that would cost millions of dollars. Patrick said he’s worried “that would break the camel’s back.” With the competing standard favored by paper companies, “we’re going to make things better,” Patrick said. “I can live with that. I’m not shooting for the stars, but I also know we’re outsourcing jobs.”

Hotham agreed. As a MeadWestvaco employee several years ago, he watched as 30 of his fellow workers lost their jobs, “and we didn’t pass a single law to create that,” Hotham said. “I wonder how many units of 30 employees that computes to,” he said referring to what the mills would have to spend with higher standards.

On Monday the Senate also rejected the higher standard by a 24-11 vote.
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