On the left-hand column of the home page of the Sun Journal’s Web site, there is a list of geographic regions. The first four ones are Lewiston-Auburn, River Valley, Oxford Hills and Franklin County. The Web site’s logo is “connecting you with your community.” The site is intended to convey an impression of regional friendliness and municipal neighborliness. Is this an accurate image or an abstract representation based more on wishful thinking than reality?

This area’s conception of its common future will be severely tested in the days and weeks ahead as the debate over the future of the Androscoggin River intensifies.

In the last few weeks, the Legislature has been considering a bill (L.D. 99), sponsored by Lewiston Rep. Elaine Makas, which would clean up the Androscoggin. The bill is in response to legislative action last year that attempted to separate out parts of the Androscoggin and the St. Croix rivers and allow specific portions of them to fall below Class C standards, the lowest level of classification.

Essentially, Makas wants equality for these rivers. She believes that they should not be singled out and allowed to have lower standards of cleanliness than other rivers. L.D. 99 has been met with outright opposition by the Maine Paper and Pulp Association. The major environmental groups support the bill.

While the language is technical (suspended solids, phosphorous and organic waste), the apparent conflict is the same as it has been for decades: jobs versus clean water.

However, as the economy of the region changes, maybe the basic struggle relates to perceptions of common interest. Is the future of Rumford and Jay and their surrounding towns inescapably tied to the future of Lewiston-Auburn?

The mills in Jay and Rumford are a major source of jobs in western Maine. As of July 2004, there were more than 1,000 people working at each plant, with the standard annual wage topping $50,000 per year.

Rep. Tom Saviello of Wilton and Sen. Bruce Bryant of Dixfield want to stop Makas’ bill in the name of protecting jobs for their constituents. Rep. William Walcott and Sen. Peggy Rotundo of Lewiston are co-sponsors of her bill. Presumably, they want their constituents to be employed as well.

Is there a direct economic conflict between the two regions? At a legislative hearing on May 4, you wouldn’t have thought so. The buzzword, at least for some, was “compromise.” Sen. Bryant stated that he had always “pushed the mills” and that he thought last year’s legislation was already a compromise.

This past week, the DEP claimed they had reached a compromise on the issue. Many disagree and feel that the basic issue of river equality has not been resolved. Some environmental groups claim that the “compromise” has been essentially dictated to them, rather than negotiated with them.

Gov. Baldacci wants all sides to reach an agreement by June 15 that will decide the timetable and method of the cleanup. As governor, he doesn’t want to see communities publicly pitted against each other. The region can use all the good jobs that it can get, or keep.

L-A is in the process of attracting significant economic development to areas near the Androscoggin. Auburn has the Hilton Garden Inn and will soon have the brew pub Gritty McDuff’s. The Island Point Project in Lewiston is slated to have a new hotel, expensive condominiums and retail stores. A significant amount of both public and private money is planned for these projects; the Island Point project alone will have $21.5 million of private money and $7.5 million in municipal money.

If Makas’ bill fails, or is significantly weakened, will the Androscoggin become an economic liability for L-A?

It seems to me that L-A has bet its economic future on a vision of a river that produces revenue primarily from environmental, recreational, residential and tourist dollars. The mills in Rumford and Jay view the river as simply part of their production process. While recreation and tourism are important for Rumford and Jay, it’s the mills where the good jobs are.

According to recent testimony in Augusta by retired International Paper manager Bob Bachorik, reducing pollution by the mills can actually save mill jobs. When a state law was passed years ago that forced the production process to reduce foam, odor and color in the river, the Jay mill decreased their operating costs and the mill increased its profits.

Last September, the Western Maine Sustainable Development Collaborative concluded that Western Maine should “consider local and regional objectives in all asset decision making.” If one considers the Androscoggin River a regional asset, then Rumford and Jay should take into consideration how their use of the river affects L-A.

The population of this region is too small to be building political fences. The future of L-A and western Maine cannot be economically separated. It’s about time our politicians recognized that.

Karl Trautman has taught political science for more than 20 years. He has been a policy analyst for the Michigan legislature and a research assistant for “Meet The Press.” He chairs the Social Sciences Department at Central Maine Community College and can be reached at [email protected].