JAY – Verso Paper has submitted two permit applications to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection for work to be done at the Androscoggin Mill and the Riley dam on the Androscoggin River.

Verso plans to construct storm water detention ponds in marked wetland areas to collect runoff from rain so less storm water would drain into the wastewater treatment plant, mill spokesman Bill Cohen said.

The collected storm water would eventually filter into the ground rather than flooding the treatment plant, he said.

A couple of times in the past, when the mill was owned by International Paper, stormwater runoff flooded the treatment plant and caused some wastewater to go into the river untreated.

The goal is to improve the stormwater management system at the mill.

The second permit application to the DEP is for structural repairs to the top side of the Riley dam in Jay and Canton.

Comments on the permit applications may be made to the MDEP at its Central Maine Regional Office, 17 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333.