The quality of the water in the Androscoggin River today compared to decades ago is like comparing a glass of spring water to raw sewage. I used to hunt ducks on the Androscoggin River years ago. You could almost walk across the river on the pollution. It was disgusting.

There is a limit to just how much we can afford to do to make the water cleaner. The paper industry should be commended for all of the work that it has done to improve the water quality. Believe it or not, if everyone associated with the paper industry had to close his or her doors and leave the state because of some environmental activist who wanted to be able to drink the water in the Androscoggin River, there would be an economic fallout like you wouldn’t believe.

Maybe after running the paper mills out, they could attack ski areas for using water to make extra snow that might cause more spring water runoff. Then, we could attack the state for sanding and salting the roads because it eventually runs into the river. We could stop municipal waste treatment plants from dumping into the river. We could all stop driving our automobiles because the pollution they cause eventually gets into the river.

This has got to stop somewhere. I’ve always said that you can go to college and gain a ton of knowledge, but you are a menace to society if you don’t have at least an ounce of common sense.

Warren Packard, Rumford